THE'Aj 


DAVID  M-'CONAUGHY 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Presented  by 

The-  V^icAow   of  Greorp'eTlLAg'c^n  ^  ^^d* 

BV    772    .M3    1918 
McConaughy,    David,    1860- 
Money,    the   acid  test 


MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 


MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 


STUDIES  IN  STEWARDSHIP,  COVERING  THE  PRINCIPLES  AND 
PRACTISE  OF  ONE'S  PERSONAL  ECONOMICS,  FOR  USE  IN 
BIBLE  CLASSES,  DISCUSSION  GROUPS,  YOUNG  PEO- 
PLE'S  SOCIETIES,  AND  SIMILAR   GATHERINGS 


BY 

DAVID  McCONAUGHY 


PHILADELPHIA 
THE  WESTMINSTER  PRESS 

1918 

FOR  THE  NEW  ERA  MOVEMENT 
156  Fifth  Arenue,  New  York 


COPYRIGHT,    1918,    BY 

MISSIONARY    EDUCATION    MOVEMENT   OF   THE 

UNITED   STATES   AND   CANADA 


TO  ALL 

"STEWARDS  OF  THE  MANIFOLD  GRACE  OF  GOD" 
WHO  LOOK  UPON  ALL  OF  LIFE  AS  A  SACRED 
TRUST  AND  WOULD  SO  USE  IT  AS  TO  HAVE  "A 
CONSCIENCE  VOID  OF  OFFENSE  TOWARD  GOD  AND 
MEN  ALWAYS" 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Foreword •<      .       .  ix 

I""'  Stewardship •       .  3 

II    Acquiring 31 

III  Spending 51 

IV  Saving         ..........  71 

V    Giving 93 

VI     Proportioning .115 

VII     Accounting .  135 

VIII     Influencing  Others 165 

Brief      Bibliography      for     Supplementary 

Reading 189 

Index 191 


FOREWORD 

New  conditions  of  need  in  the  world  are  calling 
for  new  standards  of  stewardship  in  the  church,  or, 
rather,  for  new  applications  of  the  divine  and  unchang- 
ing standards  of  giving,  as  well  as  of  living  and  serv- 
ing. The  challenge  to  "  give "  and  "  save "  and 
"  serve  "  stares  one  in  the  face  on  every  side.  Lessons 
of  economy  and  of  generosity  are  being  taught  on  a 
nation-wide  scale,  indeed,  on  a  world-wide  scale.  Now 
that  God  is  speaking  by  the  mouths  of  cannon  and  in 
the  din  of  battle, 

"  Is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  his  judgment  seat," 

a  fresh  study  of  the  subject  of  stewardship  is  pecu- 
liarly opportune  for  those  who  would  know  and  do 
the  will  of  God  in  relation  to  "  things,"  especially  as 
represented  by  money. 

This  series  of  studies  aims  to  meet  the  growing  de- 
mand for  a  treatment  of  the  problems  of  personal 
economics  from  a  standpoint  somewhat  different  from 
that  of  most  economists.  It  differs  in  that  it  begins 
further  back,  recognizing  that  in  the  production  and 
distribution  of  property — be  it  money  or  whatever 
form  of  material  value — God  in  a  very  real  and  prac- 
tical sense  is  the  Chief  Partner  and  is  to  be  reckoned 
with,  together  with  the  Individual  and  Society. 

ix 


X  FOREWORD 

Important  as  it  is  to  understand  the  principles  which 
regulate  the  mutual  relationships  of  the  Individual  and 
Society,  it  is  no  less  essential  to  master  the  funda- 
mental relations  between  the  Individual  and  God,  in- 
volved as  these  are  in  man's  possession  and  use  of 
God's  property. 

Moreover,  in  the  whole  process,  from  the  acquiring 
of  property  or  its  equivalent  in  money  to  the  final 
accounting,  the  main  consideration  is  given  in  this 
course  to  the  reflex  effect  upon  character.  It  is  this 
vital  element  in  the  subject  which  invests  it  with  such 
solemn,  such  stupendous  importance.  Money,  most 
common  of  temporal  things,  involves  uncommon  and 
eternal  consequences. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  God  has  given  stewardship 
so  important  a  place  in  the  training  of  the  human  race. 
It  is  one  of  the  divine  kindergarten  methods  of  de- 
veloping human  life.  The  grace  of  giving  is  God's 
antidote  for  human  selfishness.  It  has  three  distinct 
angles  of  relation  in  which  to  be  viewed:  upward, 
in  relation  to  God;  inward,  in  relation  to  the  Individ- 
ual; outward,  in  relation  to  Society.  The  field  which 
lies  within  the  outward  angle,  having  to  do  with  the 
Individual's  relation  to  the  community,  has  been  well 
covered  by  those  who  specialize  in  political  economy 
and  in  social  service.  We  concern  ourselves  now  more 
particularly  with  the  other  aspects,  comparatively 
neglected  as  yet,  that  have  to  do  with  the  relation 
which  a  man's  things  have  to  God  and  to  man's  own 
self-expression. 


FOREWORD  xi 

In  assembling  the  material  here  presented  for  this 
text-book  credit  may  not  always  have  been  given. 
Sometimes,  indeed,  it  has  seemed  difficult  to  make  sure 
to  whom  it  belongs;  for  in  the  growing  mass  of  ma- 
terial on  the  subject  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  identity 
of  ideas  and  even  of  expression.  Gratefully  acknowl- 
edging obligation  to  those  who  have  worked  in  this 
field,  the  author  has  freely  exercised  his  right  to  differ 
with  them,  while  gladly  according  the  same  right  to 
others. 

If  these  studies  serve  to  stimulate  independent 
thought  and  free  discussion  and  then  lead  to  a  practical 
application  of  the  principles  of  stewardship  on  the  part 
of  individuals  and  churches,  they  will  have  achieved 
their  purpose. 

[//  it  is  desired  to  abridge  the  course,  combine 
Chapter  III  with  IV,  and  V  with  VI,  making  six  ses- 
sions instead  of  eight.] 

David  McConaughy. 

New  York, 
August  IS,  1918. 


I 

STEWARDSHIP 
**If  God  is  your  partner,  make  your  plans  large/ 


Guard  that  which  is  committed  unto  thee  (i  Tim.  6.20). 

Having  food  and  covering  we  shall  be  therewith  content 
(I  Tim.  6.8). 

Godliness  with  contentment  is  great  gain  (i  Tim.  6.6). 

I  have  a  stewardship  entrusted  to  me  (i.  Cor.  9.17). 

I  was  made  a  minister,  according  to  the  stewardship  of  God 
which  was  given  me   (Col.   1.25,  margin). 

It  is  required  in  stewards,  that  a  man  be  found  faithful  (i 
Cor.  4.2). 

Let  a  man  so  account  of  us,  as  of  .  .  .  stewards  of  the  mys- 
teries of  God  (i  Cor.  4.  i). 

According  as  each  hath  received  a  gift,  ministering  it  among 
yourselves,  as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God 
(i  Pet.  4. 10). 


STEWARDSHIP 

All  Life  a  Stewardship.  All  life  is  a  stewardship. 
Vital  energy  in  whatever  form — whether  physical  or 
mental,  moral  or  spiritual — is  a  trust  from  God.  The 
jearth>  likewise,  with  its  immeasurable  store  of  material 
— its  air  and  water  and  soil,  its  mineral  wealth,  its 
plant  and  animal  life — is  put  at  man's  disposal.  He 
is  to  subdue  it  (Gen.  i.  28)  and  to  utilize  it  to  the 
utmost;  but  with  the  perpetual  proviso  that  he  is  to 
use  it  always  for  Another,  in  accordance  with  his  will 
as  revealed  in  his  Word  and  under  his  constant  direc- 
tion. Time,  too,  enters  into  the  account.  To  say  that 
"  Time  is  money  "  is  but  a  crude  way  of  suggesting 
that  life,  with  all  its  vast  and  varied  content,  of  which 
money  can  represent  but  a  minor  part,  is  measured  in 
terms  of  time.  For  the  whole  of  this  sacred  trust, 
man  must  sooner  or  later  give  a  strict  accounting.  The 
day  for  striking  the  balance  may  be  long  delayed,  but 
God  must  eventually  be  treated  as  the  preferred  cred- 
itor; and  every  man  must  sooner  or  later  render  a 
strict  account  of  his  stewardship  (Luke  16.  2). 

Stewardship  and  Partnership.  It  is  sometimes 
urged  that  stewardship  is  not  the  true  conception ;  that 
the  real  relation  between  God  and  man  in  dealing  with 


4  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

things  is  one  of  partnership  rather  than  of  steward- 
ship. Such  a  distinction,  however,  conveys  only  a  part 
of  the  truth.  The  fact  is,  that  in  this  case  the  steward 
is  made  a  partner;  and  his  very  partnership  involves 
also  a  stewardship,  while  it  altogether  excludes  the 
possibility  of  absolute  ownership.  This  is  true  be- 
cause the  Chief  Partner,  being  for  the  time  absent  in 
person,  has  committed  his  own  interest  to  the  middle 
partner — the  individual — making  him  his  steward  in 
the  concern.  Now  the  party  of  the  second  part  can- 
not carry  out  the  will  of  the  party  of  the  first  part 
without  caring,  likewise,  for  the  interests  of  the  party 
of  the  third  part,  namely,  the  community.  As  our 
Lord  uses  the  term  ''  steward,"  (oikonomos,  from 
which  Greek  word  comes  the  English  *' economist "), 
it  glows  with  the  warmth  of  the  Orient,  which  we 
of  the  West  are  in  danger  of  chilling  as  we  touch  it 
with  our  materialized  thought.  Stewardship  accord- 
ing to  the  New  Testament  conception  is  not  a  menial 
position  of  servility  but  a  confidential  relation  of  trust. 
To  be  a  steward  of  the  interests  of  the  Chief  Partner 
in  his  absence  is  high  enough  honor. 

Once  I  visited  the  steward  of  a  prime  minister  of 
the  great  Moslem  state  of  Haidarabad,  in  India.  The 
prime  minister  had  died.  The  steward,  was  in  sole 
possession  of  his  palace.  He  alone  knew  where  the 
treasure  was  hidden.  He  only  had  the  key  to  the 
harem.  He  was  the  guardian  of  the  young  prince. 
For  was  he  not  the  trusted  steward  ?  And  are  we  not 
more — partners,   as  well?     Yes,   but  stewards  still. 


STEWARDSHIP  5 

"  It  is  enough  for  the  servant  that  he  be  as  his  lord  " 
(Matt.  lo.  25). 

But  in  the  lavishness  of  his  love  our  Father,  having 
made  us  ''  the  sons  of  God,"  has  offered  us  the  privi- 
lege of  partnership.  Having  created  us  in  his  own 
image  (Gen.  i.  26),  he  made  us  partners  (koinonoi)  — 
**  partakers  of  the  divine  nature  "  (2  Pet.  1.4).  When 
he  thus  dowered  man,  he  left  him  free  to  exercise  the 
regal  right  of  choice.  He  could  be,  not  a  steward 
only,  as  every  man  must  be,  but  a  partner  as  well,  if 
he  would.  Oh,  the  tragedy  of  it  that  any  should  come 
short  of  that  priceless  privilege ! 

My  grandfather,  when  a  young  man  making  de- 
posits daily  in  the  bank  in  Baltimore  of  which  Jared 
Hopkins  was  then  the  president,  was  one  day  called 
into  the  counting-room  and  offered  partnership  with 
the  bank  president's  nephew,  Johns  Hopkins,  in  a 
business  about  to  be  established.  "  James,"  said  Jared 
Hopkins,  "  if  thee  wants  for  money,  thee  can  draw 
on  me."  But  the  lad  did  not  venture  to  seize  the 
opportunity  and  remained  poor  to  the  end  of  his  days, 
while  Johns  Hopkins  went  on  to  become  the  merchant 
prince  and  philanthropist. 

Ours  is  the  opportunity  unspeakable  of  partnership 
with  God.  "  Truly  our  partnership  (koinonia)  is  with 
the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ "  C  i  John 
I.  3).  Now,  for  a  trust  such  as  this  partnership  in- 
volves men  m.ust  be  trained.  And  stewardship  is  God's 
school  for  preparing  men  for  partnership  with  him- 
self.    Things  are  the  tools  by  which  he  tests  both 


6  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

skill  in  acquiring  and  using  them,  and  also  honesty 
in  accounting  for  them.  In  this  process  is  determined 
the  product — whether  or  not  men  become  like  God. 

Money  a  Potential  Factor.  Among  the  means  em- 
ployed in  the  lifelong  process  of  training  man  through 
the  medium  of  things,  money  is  perhaps  the  most 
potent.  It  fills  so  important  a  place  in  human  affairs, 
it  is  capable  of  representing  the  value  of  so  much  that 
goes  to  make  up  the  sum  total  of  life,  that  it  comes  to 
possess  extraordinary  power  for  weal  or  woe.  Hence, 
"  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evil  " 
(i  Tim.  6.  lo).  Yet,  rightly  used,  it  may  be  an  in- 
strument of  incalculable  good,  and  most  of  all  in 
molding  the  man  who  handles  it.  How  necessary, 
then,  to  understand  its  nature  and  the  principles  which 
regulate  it  from  first  to  last. 

A  Medium  of  Exchange.  Money  is  primarily  a 
medium  of  exchange.  It  has  served  the  purpose  of  a 
token  of  value  between  man  and  man  from  earliest 
times.  Even  before  laws  were  formulated  money  was 
in  circulation.  Its  form  has  varied  greatly.  One  of 
the  earliest  forms  employed  was  that  of  cattle  and 
sheep,  among  pastoral  people  of  old,  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  passing  down  of  words  such  as  the  Latin 
"pecus,"  meaning  cattle,  preserved  as  a  fossil  re- 
mains in  the  English  word  ''  pecuniary."  It  recalls 
that  memorable  real  estate  transaction  of  a  far  dis- 
tant day,  when  the  well  of  Beer-sheba  changed  hands, 
and  Abraham  gave  his  friend  Abimelech  this  receipt, 
^'  These  seven  ewe  lambs  shalt  thou  take  of  my  hand, 


STEWARDSHIP  7 

that  it  may  be  a  witness  unto  me,  that  I  have  digged 
this  well  "  (Gen.  21.  30).  Even  to  this  day  the  Zulus 
of  South  Africa  pay  their  debts  and  reckon  their 
wealth  in  cattle,  as  in  Homer's  day  the  armor  of 
Glaucus  was  valued  at  one  hundred  head  of  cattle. 
In  Colonial  days  the  Indians  of  North  America  em- 
ployed wampum  and  beaver  skins  as  currency.  Small 
shells  known  as  '^  cowries  "  still  serve  the  same  pur- 
pose in  India  and  West  Africa,  likewise  salt  in  Abys- 
sinia, and  cubes  of  pressed  tea  in  Chinese  Tartary.  At 
length  the  precious  metals,  gold  and  silver,  were 
adopted  as  the  standards  of  value  among  most  people. 
The  word  "  money "  is  derived  from  the  French 
monier,  meaning  to  advise  or  warn;  this  was  one  of 
the  titles  given  to  the  goddess  Juno — Moneta — in 
whose  temple  money  was  first  coined  in  metal  form. 

A  Measure  of  Value.  Money  is  a  measure  of 
value;  it  serves  to  measure  things.  The  elements 
which  enter  to  give  value  to  things  are,  in  the  main: 
the  raw  material;  the  life  which  is  expended  in  physi- 
cal energy,  thought,  judgment;  the  skill  required  to 
fashion  the  material  into  shape  for  use;  the  time  it 
takes  to  make  and  put  the  thing  where  it  may  be  used; 
the  demand  which  goes  to  determine  their  quantity 
and  quality  and  hence  the  price.  All  these  are  ele- 
ments in  determining  the  value,  and  when  these  ele- 
ments have  come  into  combination  and  produced  the 
thing,  the  price-mark  must  be  put  upon  it.  Money, 
then,  becomes  the  measure  of  the  thing. 

Money  Measures  Men.    Money  not  only  measures 


8  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

the  things  exchanged  but  in  a  very  real  sense  it  affords 
a  measure,  likewise,  of  those  who  exchange  them. 
Money  measures  a  man.  It  is  the  measure  of  his  time, 
and  he  is  paid  by  the  hour  or  the  day  or  the  week.  It 
is  the  measure  of  his  skill  or  talent,  and  the  amount 
he  receives  depends  upon  the  kind  of  work  he  does 
within  the  time  spent  on  it.  The  counter  used  to  con- 
vey the  output  is  money. 

"Money  Makes  the  Man."  Money,  moreover, 
does  more  than  measure  a  man;  it  helps  to  make  him. 
Money  makes  the  man  while  the  man  is  making  the 
money.  It  has  been  said  that  "  acquisition  makes  the 
money ;  distribution  makes  the  man.  Distribution  with- 
out acquisition  dissipates  the  money;  acquisition  with- 
out distribution  dissipates  the  man.'^  The  fact  is,  that 
not  only  in  the  making  of  money,  but  quite  as  much 
in  the  spending  of  it,  and  perhaps  most  of  all  in  the 
giving  of  it,  money  reacts  upon  the  man.  Money  and 
the  things  which  it  represents  have  the  magical  faculty 
of  turning,  as  it  were,  upon  the  one  who  handles  them, 
according  to  the  way  they  are  handled.  When  men 
work  with  them,  they  are  tools;  when  jplayed  with,' 
they  are  toys.  Those  who  have  handled  them,  be- 
cause of  having  had  them,  are  never  afterward  the 
same.  The  way  the  man  has  used  the  thing  has  left 
its  mark  upon  the  man.  He  may  have  been  utterly 
unaware  of  the  process,  but  it  surely  goes  steadily  on 
all  the  time.  While  the  watchmaker  is  making  the 
watch,  the  very  making  of  the  watch  is  making  the 
watchmaker  the  skilled  artisan  he  is  becoming.     The 


STEWARDSHIP  9 

watchmaker  may  be  making  the  spring  and  the  face 
and  the  hands  and  all  the  marvelously  adjusted 
mechanism,  but  at  the  same  time  the  watch  is  develop- 
ing the  watchmaker's  skill  and  patience,  his  judgment 
and  delicacy  of  touch.  - 

"  Work,"  as  Henry  Drummond  said  on  the  death  of 
his  friend  John  Ewing,  of  Melbourne,  "  is  given  man, 
not  only,  nor  so  much,  perhaps,  because  the  world 
needs  it,  but  because  the  workmen  need  it.  Men  make 
work,  but  work  makes  men.  An  office  is  not  merely 
a  place  for  making  money;  it  is  a  place  for  making 
men.  A  workshop  is  not  a  place  for  making  machinery 
only;  it  is  a  place  for  making  souls,  for  filling  in  the 
working  virtues  of  one's  life;  for  turning  out  honest, 
modest,  and  good-natured  men."  

The  character-molding  power  of  money  was  recog- 
nized by  Paul  when  he  came  to  fill  in  the  detail  of  his 
pen  portraits  (i  Tim.  3.  1-13)  of  the  leaders  required 
for  the  church  of  God.  The  "  bishop  "  or  superin- 
tendent, in  order  to  be  "  without  reproach,"  must, 
among  other  fundamental  requirements,  meet  this  con- 
dition, that  he  be  "  no  lover  of  money."  It  is  de- 
manded of  the  deacon,  too,  that  he  be  "  not  greedy  of 
filthy  lucre."  This  latter  phrase  was  not  peculiar  to 
Paul,  but  evidently  reflects  the  common  estimation  in 
which  Christians  held  money  in  the  first  century.  For 
Peter,  exhorting  his  fellow  elders,  warned  them  to 
exercise  their  oversight  of  the  fiork  of  God  not  ''  for 
filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind  "  (i  Pet.  5.  2). 

But,  if  the  material  benefits  of  the  gospel  be  allowed 


10  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

to  satisfy  and  dominate  those  who  possess  them,  then 
money  may  become  Hke  that  cruel  mechanism,  "  The 
Iron  Maid,"  which  in  the  days  of  the  Inquisition  was 
used  slowly  to  crush  the  breath  out  of  the  victim  held 
in  its  inexorable  grasp.  If  money  be  not  kept  in  the 
place  of  servant,  it  may  become  a  tyrannous  master. 

I  was  told  by  a  member  of  a  firm  of  wholesale 
grocers,  in  a  city  in  the  West,  that  one  day  one  of 
his  partners  sent  for  him  to  come  to  his  bedside. 
The  other  man  was  nearing  the  Great  Divide,  and  in 
the  white  light  of  the  eternal  world  things  were  loom- 
ing up  before  him  in  their  true  perspective.  Taking 
his  partner's  hand  he  said  earnestly :  "  I  want  you  to 
see  to  an  inscription  for  my  tombstone.  You  know 
I  never  married,  for  I  had  no  time  to  spare  from 
business  to  spend  with  a  family ;  but  I  made  money. 
I  never  joined  a  social  or  athletic  club,  for  I  was  too 
busy  making  money.  Now,  when  I  am  gone,  have 
this  inscription  cut: 

"  Born,  June  7,  1859, 
A  human; 

Died, ,  191—, 

A  wholesale  grocer.'* 

Money  Appraises  Men.  Not  uncommonly,  when 
a  man  has  gone,  the  question  is  asked,  "  What  was  he 
worth  ?  "  The  answer  is  usually  given  in  terms  of 
dollars.  False  standard  though  that  is  for  measuring 
the  true  value  of  life,  even  so  it  is  true  that  the  gospel 
does  appreciably  affect  and  even  actually  determine 


STEWARDSHIP  ii 

the  very  market  value  of  a  man.  In  pagan  lands 
man-power  is  cheapest;  it  is  in  Christian  countries 
that  human  life  is  counted  most  valuable  and  com- 
mands most  in  the  industrial  market.  In  India  I  have 
known  a  girl  to  be  sold  for  the  equivalent  of  one  dol- 
lar. In  America  a  boy  of  fifteen  is  valued  commer- 
cially at  $5,000;  a  full-grown  man  at  $15,000  to 
$20,000. 

Money  Reveals  Men.  Money  talks;  it  expresses 
what  its  possessors  actually  are.  The  ordinary  speech 
of  men  betrays  their  crass  materialism.  As  you  travel 
in  a  railway  train  keep  your  ears  open  and  you  can 
soon  catch  a  vocabulary  in  which  the  words  most 
commonly  recurring  are  these:  ''dollars,''  "shares," 
"  acres,"  "  crops,"  *'  house,"  "  automobile,"  and  the 
like.  With  metallic  click  these  words  ring  from  the 
tongue  and  jar  upon  the  ears  like  cash-registers, 
recording  the  thought,  the  true  tendencies,  of  your 
fellow  travelers,  as  they  make  the  journey  of  life 
from  the  station  of  birth  onward  to  the  final  terminal. 
Yes,  money  talks,  and  while  it  is  true  that  it  is  not 
on  speaking  terms  with  every  one,  and  to  many  it 
may  only  say  "  good-by,"  yet  it  speaks  a  various 
language  which  reveals  the  true  inwardness  of  men. 

In  a  group  of  American  men  of  big  business  one 
was  telling  one  day  how  he  got  rid  of  those  who 
came  asking  him  to  contribute  to  charitable  objects. 
He  wound  up  by  saying,  "  I  don't  allow  any  of  my 
time  to  be  wasted  on  these  sympathy  appeals.  I  send 
the  beggars  about  their  business." 


12  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Another  of  the  group,  after  a  pause,  said  very  de- 
liberately, "  Well,  I  hope  my  heart  will  never  become 
so  hardened  in  the  process  of  money-making,  that  it 
will  have  no  sympathy  left  to  respond  to  appeals  for 
help." 

It  was  not  long  before  the  former  was  occupying  a 
cell  in  a  federal  prison,  while  the  latter  was  at  the 
head  of  a  Christian  movement  to  whose  unprecedented 
appeal  for  funds  the  whole  of  the  American  people 
made  a  response  far  beyond  even  the  huge  demand. 

Money  May  Be  Part  of  Myself.  Whatever  its 
form,  money  comes  to  represent  the  stored-up  power 
of  men.  It  is  coined  personality.  *'  My  money  is  my- 
self," says  Dr.  A.  F.  Schauffler,  "  I  am  a  laboring 
man,  we  will  say,  and  can  handle  a  pickax,  and  I 
hire  myself  out  for  a  week  at  $2  a  day.  At  the  close 
of  the  week,  I  get  $12  and  put  it  in  my  pocket.  What 
is  that  $12?  It  is  a  week's  worth  of  my  muscle  put 
into  greenbacks  and  pocketed;  that  is,  I  have  a  week's 
worth  of  myself  in  my  pocket.  Or,  I  am  a  clerk,  and 
I  hire  myself  out,  being  an  intelligent  and  capable 
clerk,  at  $20  a  week.  Saturday  comes,  and  I  get  my 
pay,  and  when  I  put  that  in  my  pocket,  I  pocket  a 
week's  worth  of  myself  as  a  clerk.  Or,  I  am  a  mer- 
chant, and  I  have  large  affairs;  I  have  the  handling 
of  many  clerks  and  require  a  higher  brain  power  than 
that  of  the  ordinary  man.  At  the  end  of  the  week, 
I  strike  my  balance-sheet  and  find  that  I  am  to  the 
good  $1,000.  That  is  a  week's  worth  of  the  mer- 
chant, a  higher  grade  of  intelligence.     But  my  name 


STEWARDSHIP  13 

is  Edison,  and  I  toil  with  a  brain  of  extraordinary 
power;  and  I  complete  an  invention  and  at  the  end 
of  the  week  I  sell  it  for  $50,000  and  pocket  the  check. 
That  is  a  week's  worth  of  the  highest  inventive  brain 
that  there  is.  But  it  is  all  the  same,  anyway.  The 
muscle  man,  the  mind  man,  the  genius,  when  he  gets 
his  money,  is  really  getting  the  result  of  his  own  labor 
in  the  shape  of  cash. 

"  Now  the  moment  you  understand  this,  you  begin 
to  understand  that  money  in  your  pocket  is  not  merely 
silver  and  gold,  but  it  is  something  human,  something 
that  is  instinct  with  power,  because  it  represents  power 
expended.  If  you  are  not  earning  any  money  of  your 
own,  and  your  father  is  supporting  you,  then  you  are 
carrying  that  much  of  your  father  around  in  your 
pocket.  Money  is  like  electricity;  it  is  stored  power, 
and  it  is  only  a  question  as  to  where  that  power  is  to 
be  loosed."  ^ 

Money  but  a  Part  of  Stewardship.  Potential  a 
factor  as  money  is  in  human  affairs,  no  man,  however, 
can  possibly  cover  the  whole  of  his  stewardship  in  the 
columns  of  his  cash-book  or  his  ledger.  Much  of  one's 
stewardship  has  to  do  with  the  common  duties  within 
the  family  circle,  the  intimate  associations  of  friend- 
ship, the  service  rendered  to  society,  and  patriotic 
loyalties  to  the  state.  And,  even  as  all  elements  enter 
into  the  deposit  entrusted  to  the  Christian  for 
his  use,  so  also  the  administration  of  his  steward- 
ship will  be  through  all  channels    (i    Cor.   4.  i) — 

*  A.  F.  Schauffler,  Money,  Its  Nature  and  Power, 


14  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

not  by  giving  of  money  only,  but  also  of  serv- 
ice and  influence  and  prayer  and  the  witness  he 
bears  to  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  This  part  of 
life's  output  should  far  overbalance  that  which  can  be 
reduced  to  dollars  and  cents.  Of  this  latter  fraction, 
the  part  of  one's  belongings  and  time  and  self  which 
can  be  converted  into  cash,  the  whole  of  it  comes 
within  the  scope  of  one's  stewardship.  For  conve- 
nience it  may  be  classified  in  compartments  labeled 
"  living  "  and  "  saving  "  and  "  giving,"  but  in  the  last 
analysis  it  is  an  indivisible  trust.  Thus  regarded  and 
treated,  every  bit  of  a  man's  money  comes  to  bear 
the  image  and  superscription  of  Christ.  "  Csesar  '^ 
ceases  to  have  claim  upon  any  of  it.  When  earned 
and  used  for  the  Almighty,  what  once  was  only 
"  filthy  lucre  "  becomes  verily  ''  the  almighty  dollar." 

Typical  Stewards.  Among  the  "many  who  min- 
istered unto  him  of  their  substance  "  (Luke  8.  3)  when 
our  Lord  was  on  earth,  was  Joana  the  wife  of  King 
Herod's  steward.  Of  that  couple,  the  wife  had  the 
goodlier  stewardship.  Better  far  to  be  a  steward  of 
the  King  of  kings  than  of  Herod  the  king  of  Judah. 
What  a  royal  order  is  that  of  God's  stewards! 

Samuel  Inslee,  a  New  York  business  man  of  a  gen- 
eration ago,  active  in  church  extension  and  Sunday- 
school  work,  was  a  generous  giver.  He  furnished 
practically  all  the  funds  required  for  a  church  build- 
ing in  the  Bronx  and  helped  in  a  hundred  ways  to  pro- 
mote the  kingdom  of  God.  One  day  in  his  office,  when 
he  had  just  drawn  a  check  for  a  thousand  dollars 


STEWARDSHIP  15 

which  a  friend  of  mine  had  asked  of  him  for  a  certain 
good  cause,  Mr.  Inslee  was  asked  how  he  had  learned 
to  give  away  money  so  easily.    His  reply  was  this : 

"  On  Hudson  Street  near  Canal  forty  years  ago 
there  used  to  be  a  little  notion  store  where  I  began 
my  business  career.  My  salary  was  four  dollars  a 
week.  A  portion  of  that  four  dollars  I  set  aside  for 
the  Lord.  It  was  the  first  money  I  had  earned.  Of 
every  four  dollars  that  I  have  received  in  all  the  suc- 
ceeding years,  an  increasing  proportion  has  been  set 
aside  unto  the  Lord.  I  have  no  difficulty  in  giving 
away  money,  for  I  count  myself  one  of  the  Lord's 
stewards." 

William  E.  Dodge,  on  meeting  one  of  the  secre- 
taries of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
a  few  days  after  sending  a  very  liberal  contribution 
to  help  in  making  up  the  deficit,  said :  ''  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  great  a  pleasure  it  was  for  me  to  receive 
your  note  and  to  help  liquidate  the  deficit  of  the 
board."  The  secret  of  this  rather  rare  feeling  came 
out  when  Mr.  Dodge,  attending  a  meeting  in  the  in- 
terest of  systematic  beneficence  not  long  afterward, 
said  in  a  few  well-chosen  words  that  he  had  learned 
long  ago  to  regard  himself  as  a  trustee,  a  steward  of 
the  Lord;  and  since  he  had  come  to  this  view  there 
had  never  been  any  difficulty  in  giving  away  his  money, 
save  only  to  ascertain  carefully  whether  the  object  for 
which  it  was  asked  was  worthy.  Alluding  to  a  refer- 
ence which  had  been  made  to  tithing  in  the  same  meet- 
ing, he  said  that  it  was  all  right  for  a  beginning,  but 


i6  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

that  as  a  man's  wealth  increased  his  gifts  ought  to 
increase  in  a  proportionate  ratio.  Herein  lay  the 
secret  of  his  unfailing  generosity. 

The  will  of  John  Stewart  Kennedy  affords  a  key 
to  the  character  of  the  man.  In  the  introduction  to  it 
he  acknowledges  his  chief  obligation  to  God  for  "  hav- 
ing been  greatly  prospered,"  and  then  goes  on  to  say 
that  as  an  expression  of  his  sympathy  with  ''  the  re- 
ligious, educational,  and  philanthropic  interests  of  the 
country  "  he  gives  and  bequeaths  amounts  aggregating 
thirty  million  dollars,  half  of  his  entire  estate.  Among 
his  benefactions  were  included  all  phases  of  human 
need  and  suffering.  They  literally  took  in  the  world; 
but  first  and  foremost  in  the  list  he  put  religion,  which 
was  the  deep  substratum  of  his  life.  He  had  not 
waited  until  the  end  to  part  with  his  possessions;  all 
through  the  years  he  had  been  giving  generously  to 
others.  Dr.  Washburn,  a  former  president  of  Robert 
College,  Constantinople,  which  was  one  of  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy's keenest  interests,  once  asked  him  how  much 
money  he  had  given  during  a  certain  year  to  help 
families  whom  he  thought  needed  his  assistance.  His 
reply  was,  *'  Well,  I  have  given  this  year  in  a  quiet 
way  not  known  outside  my  own  family  about 
$40,000."  In  an  account-book  containing  his  early 
benefactions,  was  found  written  at  the  head  of  a 
page,  "  Behold,  the  tenth  of  all  I  give  unto  thee." 
Mrs.  Kennedy  gave  the  key  to  the  man's  character 
when  she  told  a  friend  that  every  morning  it  was  Mr. 
Kennedy's  habit  to  go  off  by  himself  for  fifteen  or 


STEWARDSHIP  17 

twenty  minutes  and  with  his  Bible  on  his  knees  hold 
fellowship  with  his  Master.  The  secret  of  his  life  was 
fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ. 

In  connection  with  the  second  American  Red  Cross 
drive  one  of  the  captains  in  New  York  City  called 
special  attention  to  a  subscription  of  one  dollar  which 
he  had  obtained  from  a  wealthy  woman  on  the  West 
Side  after  a  half  hour's  interview.  He  asked  permis- 
sion to  keep  it  as  a  souvenir,  and  he  substituted  forth- 
with out  of  his  own  pocket  a  gift  of  $5,000.  The 
incident  takes  on  an  added  interest  in  the  light  of  the 
story  of  how  William  Colgate,  the  grandfather  of  that 
"  captain,"  him.self  started  out  upon  the  pathway  of 
stewardship.  This  is  the  story  as  given  by  Dr.  A.  J. 
Gordon : 

Many  years  ago  a  lad  of  sixteen  left  home  to  seek  his  for- 
tune. All  his  worldly  possessions  were  tied  up  in  a  bundle 
which  he  carried  in  his  hand.  As  he  trudged  along  he  met 
an  old  neighbor,  the  captain  of  a  canal-boat,  and  the  following 
conversation  took  place,  which  changed  the  whole  current  of 
the  boy's  life : 

"Well,  William,  where  are  you  going?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  answered.  "  Father  is  too  poor  to  keep 
me  at  home  any  longer,  and  says  I  must  now  make  a  living 
for  myself." 

"  There's  no  trouble  about  that,"  said  the  captain.  "  Be  sure 
you  start  right,  and  you'll  get  along  finely." 

William  told  his  friend  that  the  only  trade  he  knew  any- 
thing about  was  soap  and  candle-making,  at  which  he  had  helped 
his  father  while  at  home. 

"  Well,"  said  the  old  man,  "  let  me  pray  with  you  once  more 
and  give  you  a  little  advice,  and  then  I  will  let  you  go." 

They  both  kneeled  down  upon  the  tow-path ;  the  dear  old 
man    prayed    earnestly    for   William    and    then    gave   him    this 


i8  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

advice,  "Some  one  will  soon  be  the  leading  soap-maker  in 
New  York.  It  can  be  you  as  well  as  any  one.  I  hope  it  may. 
Be  a  good  man;  give  your  heart  to  Christ;  give  the  Lord  all 
that  belongs  to  him  of  every  dollar  you  earn;  make  an  honest 
soap;  give  a  full  pound,  and  I  am  certain  you  will  yet  be  a 
prosperous  and   rich  man." 

When  the  boy  arrived  in  the  city,  he  found  it  hard  to  get 
work.  Lonesome  and  far  from  home  he  remembered  his 
mother's  words  and  the  last  words  of  the  canal-boat  captain. 
He  was  then  led  to  "seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness,"  and  united  with  the  church.  He  remembered 
his  promise  to  the  old  captain,  and  the  first  dollar  he  earned 
brought  up  the  question  of  the  Lord's  part.  In  the  Bible  he 
found  that  the  Jews  were  commanded  to  give  one  tenth;  so 
he  said,  "If  the  Lord  will  take  one  tenth,  I  will  give  that." 
And  so  he  did;  and  ten  cents  of  every  dollar  was  sacred  to 
the  Lord.  Having  regular  employment,  he  soon  became  a 
partner;  and  after  a  few  years  his  partner  died,  and  William 
became  the  sole  owner  of  the  business.  He  now  resolved  to 
keep  his  promise  to  the  old  captain ;  he  made  an  honest  soap, 
gave  a  full  pound,  and  instructed  his  bookkeeper  to  open  an 
account  with  the  Lord,  carrying  one  tenth  of  his  income  to 
that  account.  He  prospered;  his  business  grew;  his  family  was 
blessed;  his  soap  sold  and  he  grew  rich  faster  than  he  had 
ever  hoped.  He  then  gave  the  Lord  two  tenths,  and  pros- 
pered more  than  ever ;  then  he  gave  three  tenths,  then  four 
tenths,  then  five  tenths.  He  educated  his  family,  settled  all  his 
plans  for  life,  and  thereafter  gave  the  whole  of  his  income  to 
the  Lord. 

This  order  of  nobility — the  Knights  of  the  Great 
Heart  and  Open  Hand — is  not  confined  to  the  big 
givers.  It  was  the  poor  in  this  world's  goods  but  rich 
in  love  and  faith  that  our  Lord  singled  out  to  receive 
the  golden  decorations  of  his  commendations. 

A  missionary  on  the  foreign  field,  when  asked  for 
instances  of  sacrificial  giving,  replied  that  as  fine  a 


STEWARDSHIP  19 

case  as  he  knew  had  come  to  his  notice  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  when  at  home  on  his  last  furlough.  A  black- 
smith, earning  $25  a  week,  plus  overtime  wages,  sup- 
porting a  family,  and  contributing  generously  to  his 
own  church  and  local  claims,  maintained  his  own  sub- 
stitute missionary  in  Africa,  at  an  expense  of  $350  a 
year. 

A  maiden  lady,  living  in  a  little  town  in  Illinois, 
earning  her  own  living  by  baking  pies,  cakes,  and 
bread,  and  peddling  them  from  house  to  house,  having 
known  me  as  a  boy  took  a  special  interest  in  my  work 
when  I  went  out  to  India  as  the  first  Secretary  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  sent  to  a  non- 
Christian  land.  One  day  a  letter  bearing  the  post- 
mark of  her  town  came  to  the  office  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  with  a  check  for  $25,  to  be  used  as  a  nest- 
egg  for  a  building  for  the  Association  which  had  re- 
cently been  started  at  Madras.  Supposing  that  the 
giver  might  be  able  to  repeat  the  gift,  application  was 
made  later  for  a  renewal  of  it.  Then  the  fact  came 
out  that  it  had  taken  years  for  this  poor  woman  to 
gather  together  the  amount  which  she  had  sent.  Sev- 
eral years  afterward  she^ repeated  the  gift.  It  was  at 
first  refused,  until  it  was  found  that  her  heart  was  set 
on  having  it  used  as  she  had  intended.  It  was  her 
custom  to  rise  from  bed  at  midnight  to  set  her  sponge 
and  after  her  work  was  done  she  was  accustomed  to 
pray  for  the  work  that  was  being  done  for  the  young 
men  of  India  away  on  the  other  side  of  the  world. 


20  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

She  had  learned  that  the  breadth  of  Christian  giving 
is  nothing  short  of  "  the  world,"  and  as  her  heart  went 
out  with  her  gift  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth, 
her  own  life  was  broadened  far  beyond  the  narrow 
confines  of  the  little  local  community  in  which  she 
lived.  Like  her  Lord,  she  had  learned  to  think  in 
terms  of  the  far  horizon.  When  her  example  was 
afterward  quoted  in  a  meeting  in  London,  a  wealthy 
woman  said,  "  If  Margaret  Moses,  who  lives  by  baking 
and  peddling  bread,  can  do  what  she  has  done,  I  can 
give  £250  a  year  for  another  Association  Secretary  in 
India  ";  and  she  did. 

From  the  New  York  City  Almshouse  on  Black- 
well's  Island,  $26.83  was  sent  to  the  Armenia-Syria 
Relief  Fund,  as  a  free-will  offering  of  helpless  and 
infirm  people  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  years  of  age. 
The  chaplain  had  told  them  of  the  sufferings  of  Ar- 
menia and  had  given  out  envelops  in  which  to  enclose 
requests  for  prayer.  To  his  surprise  one  envelop  and 
another  contained  money — "  the  first  time,"  the  chap- 
lain writes,  '*  that  an  offering  has  been  made  at  this 
church.  Men  have  gone  without  their  tobacco  and 
newspapers ;  they  have  free  shaves,  which  are  not  very 
inviting  here,  and  have  given  the  nickel  that  visitors 
had  given  them  for  a  shave.  One  woman,  a  paralytic 
with  only  one  arm,  washed  for  the  women  in  the  ward 
at  a  cent  a  wash  and  made  twenty-five  cents.  Another, 
a  feeble-minded  cripple,  voiceless  and  with  possibly 
fifty  words  of  vocabulary,  understood  the  story  of 
Armenian  suffering  and,  touched  by  it,  did  errands, 


STEWARDSHIP  21 

crippled  as  she  is,  and  made  beds  until  by  Friday  she 
had  earned  thirty-nine  cents;  but  fifty  cents  was  her 
goal  and  she  kept  at  it  until  it  was  reached.  Another 
gave  two  postage-stamps,  all  he  had  in  the  world,  but 
it  came  from  a  big  heart.  A  man  brought  one  dollar 
and  said,  ''This  is  all  I  have;  it  strands  me  for  the 
rest  of  the  month,  but  I  am  glad  to  stand  for  it,  and 
would  give  more  if  I  had  it."  An  invalid  man  who 
for  seventeen  years  had  been  flat  on  his  back  and  who 
has  not  the  use  of  a  single  limb,  gave  cheerfully  his 
mite  of  twenty-five  cents,  which  meant  that  he  had 
to  forego  something  that  meant  much  to  his  ill-fated 
existence." 

They  specially  requested  that  these  gifts  from  help- 
less old  age  should  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  helpless 
babies. 

Portrait  of  a  Steward.  Among  the  characters 
which  William  Law  has  preserved  in  his  Serious  Call, 
Miranda  affords  a  fine  illustration  of  the  true  steward 
after  the  pattern  of  Christ : 

"As  soon  as  she  was  mistress  of  her  time  and  fortune,  it 
was  her  first  thought  how  she  might  best  fulfil  everything  that 
God  required  of  her  in  the  use  of  them,  and  how  she  might 
make  the  best  and  happiest  use  of  this  short  life.  She  does 
not  divide  her  duty  between  God,  her  neighbor,  and  herself; 
but  she  considers  all  as  due  to  God,  and  so  does  everything  in 
his  name  and  for  his  sake.  This  makes  her  consider  her  for- 
tune as  the  gift  of  God,  that  is  to  be  used  as  everything  is 
that  belongs  to  God,  for  the  wise  and  reasonable  ends  of  a 
Christian  and  holy  life.  Her  fortune,  therefore,  is  divided  be- 
twixt herself  and  several  other  poor  people,  and  she  has  only 
her  part  of  relief   from  it.     She  thinks   it  the  same   folly  to 


22  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

indulge  herself  in  needless  vain  expenses,  as  to  give  to  other 
people  to  spend  in  the  same  way.  Therefore,  she  will  not  give 
a  poor  man  money  to  go  to  see  a  puppet-show,  neither  will 
she  allow  herself  any  money  to  spend  in  the  same  manner, 
thinking  it  very  proper  to  be  as  wise  herself  as  she  expects 
poor  men  should  be.  'For  is  it  folly  and  a  crime  in  a  poor 
man,'  says  Miranda,  'to  waste  what  is  given  him  in  fooHsh 
trifles,  whilst  he  wants  meat,  drink,  and  clothes?  And  is  it  less 
folly  or  less  crime  in  me  to  spend  in  silly  diversions,  that  which 
might  be  so  much  better  spent  in  imitation  of  the  divine  good- 
ness, in  works  of  kindness  and  charity  toward  my  fellow  crea- 
tures and  fellow  Christians?  If  a  poor  man's  own  necessities 
are  a  reason  why  he  should  not  waste  any  of  his  money  idly, 
surely  the  necessities  of  the  poor,  the  excellency  of  charity, 
which  is  received  as  done  to  Christ  himself,  is  a  much  greater 
reason  why  no  one  should  ever  waste  any  of  his  money.  For, 
if  he  does  so,  he  does  not  only  do  like  the  poor  man — wasting 
only  that  which  he  wants  himself — but  he  wastes  that  which  is 
wanted  for  the  most  noble  use  and  which  Christ  himself  is  ready 
to  receive  at  his  hands.  And,  if  we  are  angry  at  a  poor  man 
and  look  upon  him  as  a  wretch  when  he  throws  away  that  which 
should  buy  his  own  bread,  how  must  it  appear  in  the  sight  of  God 
if  we  make  a  wanton  idle  use  of  that  which  should  buy  bread 
and  clothes  for  the  hungry  and  naked  brethren  who  are  as 
near  and  dear  to  God  as  we  are,  and  fellow  heirs  at  the  same 
state  of  future  glory?' 

"  This  is  the  spirit  of  Miranda,  and  thus  she  uses  the  gifts  of 
God;  she  is  only  one  of  a  certain  number  of  poor  people  that 
are  relieved  out  of  her  fortune,  and  she  only  differs  from  them 
in  the  blessedness  of  giving.  Excepting  her  victuals  she  never 
spent  ten  pounds  a  year  upon  herself.  If  you  were  to  see  her, 
you  would  wonder  what  poor  body  it  was  that  was  so  sur- 
prisingly neat  and  clean.  She  has  but  one  rule  that  she  observes 
in  her  dress,  to  be  always  clean,  and  in  the  cheapest  things. 
Everything  about  her  resembles  the  purity  of  her  soul,  and  she 
is  always  clean  without,  because  she  is  always  pure  within." 

God's  Proprietary  Interests.  In  his  story  of  the 
Unrighteous  Steward  (Luke  i6)  our  Lord  has  finely 


STEWARDSHIP  23 

pictured  in  concrete  terms  God's  proprietary  rights  in 
the  things  of  men.  On  the  dark  background  of  the 
faithless  steward's  bankruptcy  proceedings  is  suddenly 
flashed  forth  this  search-light  question,  "  If  you  are 
not  faithful  in  that  which  is  another's,  who  will  give 
you  that  which  is  your  own?"  Only  he  whose 
thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts  would  ever  have  put 
it  that  way.  Would  we  not  rather  have  said,  *'  If  you 
have  not  proved  faithful  in  handling  your  own  affairs, 
who  will  trust  you  with  things  that  belong  to  others?  " 
But  nothing  could  be  further  from  Jesus'  thinking. 
He  knew^  very  well  that  things  cannot  in  any  true  sense 
be  considered  ours  unless  they  have  first  been  con- 
verted and  become  part  and  parcel  of  ourselves.  I 
have  a  dollar  to-day,  but  in  a  little  while  it  will  have 
passed  through  the  hands  of  many  others.  It  passed 
from  my  hands  to  that  of  the  bookseller  in  exchange 
for  a  volume  which  lies  on  my  desk;  but  the  book  is 
not  mine  until  I  have  read  it,  absorbed  it  through  my 
brain,  changed  it  from  material  to  immaterial  form. 
Only  when  it  has  become  part  and  parcel  of  me  per- 
sonally can  it  possibly  be  regarded  as  my  own. 

Stewardship  a  Test  of  Character.  Of  riches  it  is 
said  that  **  there  is  too  often  a  burden  of  care  in  get- 
ting them,  a  burden  of  anxiety  in  keeping  them,  a  bur- 
den of  temptation  in  using  them,  a  burden  of  guilt  in 
abusing  them,  a  burden  of  sorrow  in  losing  them,  a 
burden  of  account  at  last  to  be  given  for  possessing 
and  either  improving  or  misimproving  them."  Those 
who  treat  riches  as  a  trust  will  find  that  the  exercise 


24  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

of  Christian  stewardship  at  each  successive  stage  af- 
fords a  safeguard  against  the  ruinous  effects  of  exces- 
sive accumulation: 

Spending  protects  from  miserHness;  saving,  from 
wastefulness;  giving,  from  selfishness;  proportioning, 
from  one-sidedness;  accounting,  from  dishonesty;  in- 
fluencing others,  from  fruitlessness. 

Thus,  acquiring  makes  a  man  prosperous ;  spending 
makes  him  well  furnished;  saving  makes  him  thrifty; 
giving  makes  him  generous;  proportioning  makes  him 
discriminate;  accounting  makes  him  accurate;  influenc- 
ing others  makes  him  useful. 

As  our  study  of  Stewardship  proceeds,  we  shall 
see  more  and  more  clearly  that,  even  though  it  may 
be  quite  unconsciously,  money  molds  men — in  the 
process  of  getting  it,  of  saving  it,  of  using  it,  of  giving 
it,  of  accounting  for  it.  According  as  it  is  handled  it 
proves  a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  its  possessor;  either  the 
man  becomes  master  of  his  money,  or  the  money  be- 
comes master  of  the  man.  Turning  his  money  into 
food,  he  puts  it  in  his  stomach  and  it  becomes  either 
meat  or  poison ;  turning  it  into  clothes,  he  puts  it  on  his 
back,  and  it  may  make  him  genteel  or  a  dandy;  turn- 
ing it  into  books,  he  puts  it  in  his  head,  and  it  may 
make  him  a  boastful  infidel  or  a  humble  disciple.  It 
has  more  magical  qualities  than  Aladdin's  lamp.  The 
outcome  turns  upon  the  man's  attitude  toward  the 
other  partners — God  and  society.  According  as  he  is 
a  faithful  steward  or  not,  he  becomes : 


STEWARDSHIP  25 

In  acquiring,   either  a  benefactor  or  an  exactor; 
In  spending,  a  provider  or  a  prodigal; 
In  saving,  a  conserver  or  a  miser; 
In  giving,  a  philanthropist  or  a  patronizer; 
In  proportioning,  a  partner  or  a  legalist; 
In  accounting,  a  creditor  or  a  debtor ; 
In  influencing  others,  a  stepping-stone  or  a  stum- 
bling-block. 

Is  it  then  to  be  wondered  at,  in  view  of  the  pos- 
sibilities involved,  that  Jesus  has  so  much  to  say  as  to 
man's  attitude  toward  money?  Of  his  thirty-eight 
parables,  sixteen  relate  to  this  theme.  Throughout 
the  four  records  of  the  gospel,  it  is  reckoned,  one  in 
every  six  verses  deals  with  this  same  subject.  Thus 
our  Lord  takes  money,  the  thing  that,  essential  though 
it  is  to  our  common  life,  sometimes  seems  so  sordid, 
and  he  makes  it  a  touchstone  to  test  the  lives  of  men 
and  an  instrument  for  molding  them  into  likeness  to 
himself. 

POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

I.    Stewardship 

Aim  :     To  show  that  stewardship  is  a  divine  system  of  trans- 
forming human  character. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

What  is  included  within  the  scope  of  Christian  stewardship? 

How  may  men  be  stewards  and  yet  partners? 

What  makes  money  so  large  an  element  in  stewardship? 

What  purposes  does  it  serve? 

How  does  it  measure  men  as  well  as  things? 

How  does  it  affect  character? 


26  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

How  does  it  reveal  it? 

What  evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  Scriptures? 

What  is  the  main  point  of  Jesus'  story  of  the  Unjust  Steward 
(in  Luke  i6)  ? 

What  was  the  effect  upon  myself  of  the  first  money  I  pos- 
sessed? 

Are  my  possessions  so  completely  under  my  control  as  in  no 
sense  to  have  mastery  over  me? 

Problems  from  Life^ 

I.  Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  founder  of  the  Baldwin  Locomotive 
Works,  in  Philadelphia,  was  a  proportionate  giver.  The  his- 
torian of  the  works  says  that  often  when  the  concern  was 
sorely  in  need  of  money  Mr.  Baldwin  would  unhesitatingly  give 
his  notes  for  large  sums  to  religious  and  charitable  enterprises. 
These  notes  were  always  redeemed.  During  a  time  of  financial 
stress  some  Philadelphia  bankers  were  in  favor  of  withholding 
financial  aid  from  the  Baldwin  works  on  account  of  this  well- 
known  trait  of  Mr.  Baldwin;  but  one  of  them  took  the  ground 
that  this  was  the  very  best  reason  why  he  should  be  given  credit, 
and  the  desired  aid  was  given.  John  H.  Converse,  who  after- 
ward became  president  of  the  company,  was,  likewise,  a  syste- 
matic and  proportionate  giver.  One  year  when  the  works 
earned  no  profit  he  gave  $600,000  for  religious  and  philan- 
thropic work. 

What  attitude  would  you  take,  if  yourself  a  bank  director 
and  called  upon  to  act  in  such  a  case?  What  would  you  do 
about  contributing,  if  you  were  in  a  business  which  for  a  time 
yielded  no  profit? 

H.  A  lad  of  fourteen,  having  noticed  that  some  people  grow 
broader  as  they  grow  older  while  others  grow  narrower,  went 
to  his  pastor  for  an  explanation.  He  was  assured  that  he 
could  have  the  secret,  if  he  was  willing  to  pay  the  price;  it 
was  simply  this,  that  those  who  honor  the  Lord  with  the  first- 
fruits  of  all  their  increase  are  consequently  enlarged  every  way 
according  to  God's  promise.  The  lad,  earning  at  that  time  four 
dollars  a  week  and  paying  two  dollars  board  to  his  widowed 

*  Draw  upon  your  own  experience  and  observation  for  instances  which 
suggest  further  points  for  discussion,  in  the  study  of  each  chapter. 


STEWARDSHIP  27 

mother,  determined  to  dedicate  a  tenth  to  the  Lord.  It  was  a 
severe  test  to  put  aside  forty  cents  out  of  four  dollars.  But  he 
did  it,  and  after  adhering  to  the  policy  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  he  rejoices  in  the  privilege  of  having  dispensed  some 
$60,000.  His  benefactions  helped  to  educate  twenty-five  young 
men  for  useful  service  in  the  ministry  and  other  professions 
and  in  business,  among  the  number  a  college  president.  In  the 
case  of  one  who  was  a  cripple  he  expended  $4,000,  putting  him 
on  a  footing  of  self-support.  Most  of  the  money  which  he 
has  given  to  help  individuals  has  come  back  in  time  and  been 
reinvested  in  other  lives.  Each  man  he  has  helped  has  been 
enlisted  to  give  proportionately.  All  the  while  he  has  identified 
himself  personally  with  good  works  of  all  sorts. 

What  would  your  answer  have  been  to  the  lad's  inquiry? 
What  would  you  have  done  about  giving,  had  you  been  in  his 
circumstances  at  the  outset? 

III.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  when  but  eight  years  of  age  and 
earning  ten  cents  a  day,  commenced  to  put  aside  one  tenth  to 
give.  In  his  Reminiscences  he  says  that  he  counts  it  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  of  his  life  that  he  had  been  taught  in  his 
home  to  give  regularly  and  proportionately  out  of  his  earnings 
from  the  first.  His  "  Ledger  A "  shows  a  contribution  to  the 
Five  Points  Mission  in  New  York.  What  he  was  taught,  he 
has  taught  his  children. 

What  difference  would  it  have  made  had  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller not  learned  to  give  when  he  first  began  to  get  money? 

IV.  "  Do  you  know  out  of  what  I  get  my  greatest  satisfaction 
in  life  now?"  said  the  engineer  of  a  railway  "flier."  I  get  it 
out  of  being  the  Lord's  treasurer.  Before  I  was  converted  I 
used,  the  first  thing,  to  take  out  of  my  pay  envelop,  enough 
to  cover  my  booze  bill.  Now,  as  soon  as  I  step  off  the  pay- 
car,  I  put  a  fixed  proportion  of  my  wages  in  a  separate  pocket, 
to  be  given  away.  Then,  when  I  get  back  into  my  cab,  I  feel 
a  new  sense  of  partnership — that  of  the  Lord's  treasurer  instead 
of  only  a  locomotive  engineer." 

Putting  yourself  in  the  engineer's  place,  what  difference  does 
such  a  partnership  arrangement  as  he  adopted  make  in  one's 
outlook  on  life? 


II 

ACQUIRING 

"The  resources  of  God  are  promised  only  to  those  who 
undertake  the  program  of  God." 


In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread  (Gen.  3. 19). 

Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  (Ex.  20.9). 

If  any  will  not  work,  neither  let  him  eat  (2  Thess.  3.  10). 

It  is  he  (Jehovah  thy  God)  that  giveth  thee  power  to  get 
wealth   (Deut.  8. 17). 

He  that  tilleth  his  land  shall  have  plenty  of  bread  (Prov. 
12. 11). 

He  that  gathereth  by  labor  shall  have  increase  (Prov.  13. 11). 

He  that  is  greedy  of  gain  troubleth  his  own  house  (Prov. 
15.27) 

In  diligence  not  slothful,  fervent  in  spirit   (Rom.  12. 17). 

Study  to  .  .  .  work  with  your  hands  .  .  .  that  ye  may  have 
need  of  nothing  (i  Thess.  4. 11,  12). 

Let  him  labor,  working  with  his  hands  the  thing  that  is  good, 
that  he  may  have  whereof  to  give  to  him  that  hath  need  (Eph. 
4.28). 


II 

ACQUIRING 

Possession  Is  Not  Ownership.  It  is  a  common  A 
but  pernicious  fallacy  to  think  that  possession  means 
ownership.  One  of  the  services  which  the  world  war 
has  rendered  is  to  sweep  away  this  hoary  heresy,  that 
"  possession  is  nine  points  of  the  law."  By  stress  of 
unprecedented  circumstances  men  are  being  awakened 
to  realize  that,  in  relation  to  society  as  headed  up  in 
the  state,  they  are  by  no  means  absolute  owners  of 
what  they  may  happen  for  the  time  being  to  have. 
Here,  for  example,  is  an  officer  of  the  India  civil 
service  who  has  retired  on  a  modest  pension  of  a 
thousand  pounds  sterling,  or  about  $5,000,  reckoning 
on  it  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  life  in  comfort.  But 
new  needs  arise  from  the  war  and,  being  bound  up  in 
the  same  bundle  of  life  with  the  rest  of  his  country- 
men, he  is  called  upon  to  turn  over  to  the  government 
no  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  his  sole  dependence. 
Men  of  larger  means  are  called  upon  for  even  a  larger 
proportion  of  their  income.  They  had  supposed  that 
they  actually  owned  what  they  had;  they  are  dis- 
covering their  mistake.  Incomes  of  over  two  million 
dollars  in  the  United  States  pay  a  surtax  of  63  per 

31 


32  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

cent. ;  as  for  example,  to  take  only  a  few  of  the  largest, 
based  on  the  income  tax  returns  of  the  first  year  after 
the  country  entered  the  war : 

Income  Tax 

John  D.  Rockefeller $60,000,000  $38,400,000 

H.    C.    Frick 11,250,000  7,160,000 

Andrew    Carnegie 10,000,000  6,400,000 

George  F.  Baker 7,500,000  4,800,000 

William  Rockefeller 7,500,000  4,800,000 

J.  Ogden  Armour 6,250,000  4,000,000 

W.  K.  Vanderbilt 5,000,000  3,200,000 

Henry   Ford 5,000,000  3,200,000 

Edward  H.  R.  Green 5,000,000  3,200,000 

Mrs.  W.  H.  Harriman 4,000,000  2,560,000 

Vincent  Astor 3,750,ooo  2,400,000 

Charles   M.   Schwab 3,500,000  2,240,000 

J.   P.   Morgan 3,500,000  2,240,000 

Mrs.  Russell  Sage 3,000,000  1,920,000 

Cyrus  H.   McCormick 3,000,000  1,920,000 

The  first  twenty-six  on  the  list,  aggregating  one 
hundred  and  seventy  million  dollars  of  income,  yield 
one  hundred  million  dollars  of  taxes  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  federal  government.  The  total  received 
from  the  whole  country  from  this  source  for  the  same 
year  amounted  to  $3,000,000,000. 

The  French  nation,  which  with  its  mass  of  small 
"  rentiers  "  has  hitherto  been  hostile  to  all  proposals 
for  levying  an  income  tax,  has  recently  been  brought 
to  the  same  footing  by  the  war.  On  a  sliding  scale 
similar  to  that  of  England  and  the  United  States,  its 
tax  started  at  16  per  cent,  for  the  larger  incomes,  and 
it  is  sure  to  be  increased.     It  is  not  improbable  that 


ACQUIRING  33 

before  long  not  only  incomes  but  capital  as  well  will 
be  taxed  by  most  governments,  if  not  by  all.  Indeed, 
in  an  indirect  form,  that  is  already  the  case  in  some 
parts  of  the  United  States. 

God  Holds  the  First  Mortgage.  If,  then,  society 
as  represented  by  the  state  can  legitimately  make  such 
demands  as  these  and  have  them  honored  without 
question,  where  is  God's  claim  to  come  in?  For  un- 
doubtedly "  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness 
thereof;  the  w^orld,  and  they  that  dwell  therein" 
(Psa.  24.  i).  Queen  Victoria's  good  Prince  Consort, 
Albert,  had  that  text  carved  in  large  letters  on  the 
fagade  of  the  Royal  Exchange,  in  London,  the  nerve- 
center  of  the  commercial  world.  It  is  said  that  one 
day  a  bibulous  American  tourist,  with  brain  over- 
stimulated  and  consequently  somewhat  muddled,  stand- 
ing on  the  steps  of  the  Mansion  House,  the  official 
residence  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  misread  the  inscription 
thus,  "  The  earth  is  the  Lord  Mayor's."  Then  he  pro- 
ceeded to  dispute  the  proposition  in  vigorous  Yankee 
lingo,  to  the  amusement  of  those  who  passed  by.  The 
fact  is,  however,  that,  whether  Lord  Mayor  or  "  just 
folks,"  many,  while  piously  enough  admitting  in 
theory  that  ''  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,"  proceed  im- 
piously to  deny  it  in  practise;  giving  God  everything 
in  general,  they  fail  to  give  him  anything  in  particu- 
lar. They  are  not  unlike  Louis  XI,  of  France,  who 
donated  to  the  Virgin  Mary  the  whole  country  of 
Boulogne  but  reserved  the  revenue  therefrom  for 
himself. 


34  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

That  motto  on  the  Royal  Exchange  might  fitly  be 
placed  in  the  office  of  every  registrar  of  deeds.  How 
can  man  possibly  acquire  title  to  a  single  square  foot 
of  earth,  seeing  that  God  has  never  renounced  his 
prior  claim?  His  is  the  right  of  eminent  domain.  The 
most  that  man  can  acquire  is  a  ninety-nine  years'  lease- 
hold, with  God's  rights  explicitly  reserved;  freehold, 
never.  Abstracts  of  title-deeds  in  this  country  are 
usually  traced  back  to  government  grants  or  purchase 
from  the  Indians  or  letters  patent  granted  by  one  of 
the  crowns  of  Europe;  but  to  be  really  binding,  they 
should  reach  back  to  the  Creator. 

A  title-deed  to  real  estate,  viewed  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  upward  angle — that  is,  in  relation  to  God, 
— is  a  bit  of  grim  though  often  unconscious  humor, 
for,  even  though  the  mighty  ones  of  the  earth  set  them- 
selves and  the  state  guarantees  their  "  seats,"  "  He 
that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  will  laugh;  the  Lord  will 
have  them  in  derision"   (Psa.  2.4). 

Viewed  from  another  angle — the  outward  angle, 
which  covers  man's  relation  to  society — of  course  the 
title-deed  is  valid  enough  and  serves  a  useful  purpose. 
But  in  the  light  of  the  eternal  world  distinctions  of 
"  ownership  "  look  at  best  very  much  like  the  make- 
believe  of  children  playing  in  the  market-place. 

''  How,"  writes  Dr.  E.  F.  Poteat,  "  did  I  get  that 
square  inch  of  earth  which  I  find  in  my  possession?  If 
I  am  a  barbarian,  I  probably  got  it  by  fighting  for  it. 
My  sword  is  the  sign  of  my  '  ownership.'  If  I  am 
a  twentieth  century  gentleman,  my  title  rests  in  the 


ACQUIRING  35 

consent  of  the  community  and  in  the  determination 
of  the  state  to  support  me  in  my  rights  to  keep  other 
people  out  of  the  use  of  my  plot  of  ground.  But,  if 
I  am  a  Christian,  I  am  myself  owned.  God  by  crea- 
tion and  by  redemption  owns  me." 

"  Behold,  unto  Jehovah  thy  God  belongeth  heaven 
and  the  heaven  of  heavens,  the  earth,  with  all  that  is 
therein"  (Deut.  lo.  14).  "And  lest  thou  say  in  thy 
heart,  My  power  and  the  might  of  my  hand  hath 
gotten  me  this  wealth  .  .  .  thou  shalt  remember 
Jehovah  thy  God,  for  it  is  he  that  giveth  thee  power 
to  get  wealth"  (Deut.  8.  17,  18).  This  is  no  mere 
pious  sentiment,  but  the  actual  fact. 

Originally,  of  course,  God,  being  the  Creator,  was 
sole  owner  of  all.  But  he  saw  fit  to  take  man  into 
partnership.  Conferring  on  him  "  dominion  "  over 
all  the  earth — over  fish  and  fowl,  cattle  and  creeping 
thing,  in  short,  over  every  living  thing  (Gen.  i.  26-31). 
Along  with  this  right  there  was  laid  upon  man  a  tre- 
mendous responsibility — that  of  administering  the 
whole  vast  estate  so  as  to  make  the  property  pro- 
ductive, to  enhance  the  value  of  the  investment,  to 
*' multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth"  (verse  28). 

Three  Partners  Give  Value  to  Property.  The 
value  of  any  and  all  property  is  contributed  by  three 
partners — God  and  the  individual  and  society.  Each 
makes  a  distinctive  investment  in  producing  its  value. 
God  supplies  life  and  the  raw  material.  The  individ- 
ual in  whose  possession  it  is,  contributes  his  time, 
talent,  and  energy  or  their  equivalent  in  money.     So- 


36  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

ciety  supplies  the  market — the  demand — which  is  the 
final  factor  in  determining  the  value. 

The  Partnership  Must  Be  Actual.  Title  to  all 
property  being  thus  vested  in  a  triple  partnership,  it 
were  downright  dishonesty  for  any  one  of  the  part- 
ners to  claim  absolute  ownership.  Men  must  learn 
to  hold  their  possessions  for  the  common  good. 
''  This  farm,"  says  Emerson,  "  belongs  to  Mr.  Smith, 
and  that  to  Mr.  Brown;  but  the  landscape  is  mine." 
But,  before  things  will  have  become  rightly  adjusted, 
Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Brown  will  share  more  than  the 
landscape  with  their  less  fortunate  fellow  citizens. 
That  new  House  which  is  to  be  built  after  the  war  is 
over  may  not  be  exactly  according  to  the  specifica- 
tions which  the  British  Labor  Party  has  designed  in 
its  platform,  with  its  four  pillars — (i)  the  securing  to 
every  member  of  the  community  of  all  the  requisites 
of  healthy  life  and  worthy  citizenship;  (2)  the  demo- 
cratic control  of  industry;  (3)  a  revolution  in  national 
finance;  (4)  the  use  of  the  surplus  wealth  for  the 
common  good.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  we  shall 
"  have  to  restore  to  society  a  direct  ownership  of  some 
things,  but  an  eminent  ownership  of  all  things  ma- 
terial to  the  production  of  wealth,  securing  '  property 
for  use  '  to  the  individual  and  retaining  '  property  for 
power '  for  the  democratic  state."  ^ 

Cooperation    Essential.    For    the    individual    to 
monopolize  the  property  which  comes  into  his  posses- 
sion would  be  a  wrong  to  society.    For  society  to  dis- 
*  L.  F.  Hobhouse,  Property,  ch.  I. 


ACQUIRING  37 

regard  the  individual's  interest  in  it,  were  a  usurpation 
and  injustice.  For  either  the  individual  or  society  to 
fail  to  make  worthy  acknowledgment  of  God's  part 
in  it  all  would  be  robbery  and  infidelity.  Would  any- 
thing short  of  the  present  world  war  have  sufficed  to 
startle  men  out  of  the  self-complacency  with  which, 
inside  the  church  as  well  as  without,  they  had  settled 
down  to  delusions  on  the  whole  question  of  property? 
At  last  a  true  conception  of  its  place  and  purpose  is 
beginning  to  prevail. 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford,  Charles  Gore,  in  his  intro- 
duction to  that  notable  collection  of  papers  published 
under  the  title  Property:  Its  Duties  and  Rights,  has 
admirably  summed  up  the  case: 

"The  success  of  a  civilization  for  us  must  be  measured,  not 
by  the  amount  and  character  of  its  products  or  material  wealth, 
nor  by  the  degree  of  well-being  which  it  renders  possible  for 
a  privileged  class,  but  by  the  degree  in  which  it  enables  all  its 
members  to  feel  that  they  have  the  chance  of  making  the  best 
of  themselves,  to  feel  that  an  adequate  measure  of  free  self- 
realization  is  granted  them.  ...  If  the  purpose  of  property 
come  to  be  no  longer  '  for  use,'  but  '  for  power,'  it  becomes  a 
menace,  resolving  itself  into  the  unmeasured  control  by  the  few 
rich,  not  of  any  amount  of  unconscious  material  but  of  other 
men  whose  opportunity  to  live  and  work  and  eat  becomes  sub- 
ject to  their  will.  In  our  own  civilization  we  find  masses  of 
men  and  women  who  cannot  reasonably  be  described  as  having 
any  adequate  measure  of  property  for  use.  They  cannot  go 
out  into  life  v/ith  the  security  of  free  men,  cannot  within  reason- 
able limits  control  their  own  destiny,  cannot  realize  them- 
selves. They  are  '  hands '  for  other  men  to  use.  Something 
has  gone  very  wrong  with  our  tenure  of  property;  we  need  by 
peaceful  means  and,  if  it  may  be,  by  general  consent  to  accom- 
plish  such    a   redistribution   of    property   as    shall    reduce   the 


38  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

inordinate  amount  of  'property  for  power'  in  the  hands  of 
the  few  and  give  to  all  men,  as  far  as  may  be,  in  reasonable 
measure  'property  for  use.'  .  .  .  Are  we,  in  entertaining  such 
an  ambition,  violating  any  sacred  right  of  property?  .  .  .  We 
can  discern  no  absolute  right  of  property.  We  may  say  that 
a  man  has  a  divine  right  to  realize  his  being;  and  this  involves 
a  certain  right  of  property.  But  this  goes  but  a  very  little 
way.  Moreover,  from  the  first,  man  is  a  social  animal.  He 
realizes  himself  in  communities.  Property  is  made  possible  and 
secured  by  the  community,  which  becomes  in  developed  society 
the  state.  The  state  exists  to  enable  its  members  to  develop  a 
worthy  human  Hfe.  A  state  must  be  judged,  and  should  judge 
itself,  by  its  tendency  to  generate  in  all  its  citizens  a  worthy 
type  of  life — to  make  them  happy  and  progressive  beings  who 
feel  that  life  is  worth  Hving.  H  at  any  stage  it  finds  that  the 
institution  of  property,  as  it  exists,  is  fostering  luxury  and 
exaggerated  power  in  a  few  and  enslaving  or  hindering  the 
many,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  its  rectifying  what  is  amiss. 
The  state  is  free  to  alter  its  laws  and  its  methods  so  as  to 
secure  the  better  distribution  of  property.  As  it  is  only  the 
state  which  enables  a  man  to  become  rich,  if  wealth  proves 
inimical  to  the  general  development,  the  possessors  of  wealth 
have  no  legitimate  claim  to  urge  against  the  state  taking  mea- 
sures to  reduce  the  balance,  provided  that  the  end  which  the 
state  has  in  view  is  the  true  end — the  real  welfare  of  all  its 
citizens. 

"...  Individualism  in  property  has  overdone  itself.  It  is 
working  disastrous  havoc.  The  cry  for  justice  from  the  masses 
of  men  and  women  is  a  cry  which  is  legitimate ;  and,  if  it  is  a 
legitimate  cry,  then  most  certainly  it  behooves  us  not  to  wait 
till  its  claim  can  be  enforced,  grudging  every  inch  that  is  yielded 
unwillingly  to  '  labor '  under  the  pressure  of  compulsion,  but 
rather  as  free  men  to  face  and  gird  ourselves  wilHngly  for  re- 
form, even  if  it  entail  for  us  personal  sacrifice. 

"What  has  religion  to  say  to  the  institution  of  property? 
...  A  man  cannot  read  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  one  who  would  think  rightly  about  private 
property,  without  seeing  how,  alike  in  the  institution  of  the 
Law  and  the  teaching  of  the  Prophets,  the  intention  is  to  recog- 


ACQUIRING  39 

nize  it  indeed  as  having  God's  sanction,  but  to  restrain  it  by  a 
peremptory  insistence  on  the  right  of  God,  the  only  absolute 
Owner,  and  the  rights  of  our  fellow  men,  especially  the  weaker 
and  poorer  members  of  the  state.  Aluch  that  we  are  accustomed 
to  hear  called  legitimate  insistence  upon  the  rights  of  property 
the  Old  Testament  would  seem  to  call  the  robbery  of  God  and 
the  grinding  of  the  faces  of  the  poor. 

"Later,  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  about  the  worth  of 
each  individual,  the  poorest  and  the  weakest,  expressed  itself 
in  the  Christian  idea  of  brotherhood  and  the  institution  of  the 
church  as  a  body  in  which,  '  if  one  member  suffer,  all  the  mem- 
bers suffer  with  it'  This  idea  and  institution  carried  with  it  a 
doctrine  of  property  which  echoed  our  Lord's  strong  disparage- 
ment of  wealth,  and  was  in  theory  and  practise  highly  com- 
munal." 

Working  Out  the  Proportions.  What  proportions 
each  partner  respectively  contributes  to  the  value  of 
property  it  would  be  interesting  to  try  to  figure  out, 
if  only  to  arrive  at  a  rough  approximation.  God,  of 
course,  puts  in  by  far  the  largest  share.  For  example, 
in  an  ordinary  blast-furnace  which  requires  40,000 
cubic  feet  of  air  a  minute,  each  cubic  foot  weighing 
.076  pounds,  a  ton  and  a  half  of  air  is  used  each 
minute,  ninety  tons  an  hour,  2,160  tons  a  day.  The 
human  proprietor  is  utterly  powerless  to  furnish  this 
essential  element.  Since  no  amount  of  man-power 
could  possibly  supply  it,  God  must  come  into  the  part- 
nership or  the  business  cannot  continue  for  a  single 
hour.  Then,  too,  there  is  the  raw  material  which  God 
had  stored  away  in  the  mountains  and  now  puts  in  to 
produce  the  pig  iron;  and,  besides  all  this,  the  life  of 
all  the  workers  is  included  in  his  investment.  Now 
put  alongside  of  this  the  capital  and  energy  and  brains 


40  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

and  time  of  the  partner  who  calls  the  blast-furnace 
his,  and  also  what  the  "  hands  "  contribute  to  the  out- 
put. Then  work  out  this  sum  in  proportion  and  see 
what  the  result  shows. 

"  The  silk  and  wool  which  clothes  us  was  patiently 
elaborated  by  worm  or  sheep,  and  is  its  cast-off  gar- 
ment reconstructed  to  suit  our  requirement.  The  sim- 
ple prayer,  '  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,'  requires 
for  its  physical  fulfilment  that  our  tables  be  supplied 
with  productions  from  the  mineral,  vegetable,  and 
animal  kingdoms,  gathered  from  every  clime,  and  in 
the  production  or  transportation  of  which  have  been 
utilized  the  operation  of  every  law  of  life,  every  prin- 
ciple of  chemistry  and  physics,  every  form  of  mechani- 
cal device,  the  stored  energy  of  unnumbered  ages,  the 
constructive  thought,  experimentation,  and  coopera- 
tion of  thousands  of  men,  and  the  invested  billions  of 
dollars  which  make  possible  the  maintenance  of  the 
material  accessories  of  civilization.  Whatever  his 
accumulations,  no  man  has  originated  a  new  force  or 
created  a  new  element."  ^ 

Likewise,  in  the  production  of  even  the  commonest 
article  of  daily  use: 

"  Back  of  the  loaf  is  the  snowy  flour, 
And  back  of  the  flour  the  mill, 
And  back  of  the  mill  are  the  wheat  and  the  shower 
And  the  sun  and  the  Father's  will." 

Society's    Investment.    Society,    likewise,    has    a 
large    interest    at    stake    in    all    property.       When 
*  John  F.  Goucher,  Principles  of  Stewardship. 


ACQUIRING  41 

Manhattan  Island  was  first  transferred  from  the 
Indians  to  the  shrewd  Dutchmen  who  bought  it, 
the  consideration  given  amounted  to  only  $28.  Now 
it  is  valued  at  three  and  a  half  billion  dollars. 
Does  the  difference  represent  the  original  price  with 
compound  interest  to  date  ?  What  would  be  the  value 
of  the  Interborough  railroad  st(^k,  were  it  not  for  the 
throngs  who  dive  daily,  yes  hourly  day  and  night,  like 
moles  into  holes  in  the  ground  and  pour  their  constant 
stream  of  nickels  into  the  Company's  coffers?  Each 
subway  train  may  represent  an  investment  of 
$400,000.,  but  what  would  it  be  worth  w^ithout  the 
people  who  permit  themselves  to  be  packed  in  like 
cattle  ? 

The  Individual's  Part.  How  much  then  has  the 
individual  holder  put  into  the  property  he  holds  ?  His 
investment  is  in  the  form  of  vital  energy,  whether  of 
muscle  or  of  mind,  likewise  his  time  and  the  training 
and  the  skill  that  he  possesses — either  these  or  their 
equivalent  measured  in  money. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Poteat  tells  of  a  shrewd  business  ac- 
quaintance of  his  who  had  calculated  his  contribution 
to  his  own  prosperity.  He  ran  an  electric  plant,  an 
ice  plant,  and  a  dairy,  and  he  ran  them  successfully, 
yet  he  was  never  able  to  make  it  out  that  his  personal 
contribution  to  the  value  of  the  property  was  more 
than  five  per  cent. 

Two  Ways  of  Acquiring.  There  are  two  principal 
ways  of  coming  into  possession  of  things — by  favor 
of  others  or  by  efforts  of  our  own.     What  comes  by 


42  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

gift  or  inheritance  is  of  far  less  value,  because  it  lacks 
one  dimension,  that  of  the  inward  angle;  it  brings 
less  of  the  character  value  which  comes  as  the  result 
of  honest  effort  put  forth  in  acquiring.  It  has  more 
purchasing  power  in  the  market  than  transforming 
power  in  the  man  to  whom  it  is  given.  Often,  too, 
the  money  which  comes  easily,  goes  quickly.  If,  how- 
ever, what  is  inherited  be  regarded  as  a  responsibility 
to  be  administered,  rather  than  a  relief  from  the  neces- 
sity of  labor,  it  may  be  the  means  of  enlarging  and 
enriching  the  one  who  inherits. 

One's  First  Money.  The  first  lesson  to  be  learned 
in  relation  to  money  and  the  things  which  it  rep- 
resents is  what  it  costs  to  get  it.  We  arrive  on  this 
planet  without  wardrobe  or  food  supplies  or  cash  to 
obtain  either.  Having  needs  which  soon  assert  them- 
selves we  avail  ourselves  of  our  chief  stock  in  trade, 
a  pair  of  lusty  lungs.  Proceeding  to  employ  them,  we 
soon  discover  a  satisfactory  method  of  getting  what 
we  require.  My  own  experience  in  that  respect  was 
not  unlike  that  of  many  others.  When  the  time  came 
for  me  to  rejoice  in  my  first  pockets  I  found  an  op- 
portunity to  repeat  the  very  same  process  which  had 
worked  so  well  at  the  outset.  A  wag  of  an  uncle  gave 
me  my  initial  chance  to  get  into  the  business  of  earn- 
ing my  first  money.  Placing  me  on  one  side  of  a  tall 
tree  on  my  grandfather's  grounds,  he  made  the  prop- 
osition that,  if  I  would  shout  loud  enough  to  make 
my  voice  go  up  over  the  topmost  branch  of  that  tall 
pine  and  come  down  to  him  on  the  other  side,  he  would 


ACQUIRING  43 

pay  me  a  quarter.  Right  lustily  I  used  my  lung  power 
to  its  full  capacity  until  the  conditions  were  declared 
to  have  been  fulfilled,  and  my  first  wage  was  deposited 
deep  down  in  the  pocket  of  which  I  was  so  proud. 
Perhaps  it  was  not  the  most  productive  kind  of  labor, 
but  in  earning  a  return  on  the  outlay  it  served  its  pur- 
pose wtII. 

Meum  et  Tuum.  When  once  the  problem  of  getting 
money  is  in  a  fair  way  to  be  solved,  the  distinction  of 
*'  mine "  and  "  thine  "  needs  to  be  learned  without 
delay.  Under  proper  conditions  it  is  acquired  early 
in  life.  Let  some  street  bully  stop  a  tiny  tot  who  is 
carrying  a  cent  to  Sunday-school  and  dispute  posses- 
sion. The  value  in  hand  may  be  very  little  and  the 
tenure  ever  so  brief,  but  the  small  fist  tightens  and 
forth  comes  the  defiant  assertion,  *'  It's  mine.'^  Well 
were  it  that  a  no  less  clear  conviction  should  be 
formed  and  persistently  adhered  to  all  through  life 
as  to  the  possessions  of  others.  Let  the  distinction  be 
broad  enough  in  its  application  to  include,  not  one's 
fellows  only,  but,  over  and  above  all,  God. 

Property  Involves  Personality.  Power  to  acquire 
develops  the  sense  of  personality;  it  opens  the  way  to 
increased  intelligence,  industry,  self-reliance,  relia- 
bility, breadth  of  interest,  and  sympathy  with  others. 
According  as  it  is  utilized  it  reacts  upon  men  for  weal 
or  woe.  Only  as  personality  comes  into  relation  to 
things  do  these  become  property.  As  Harvey  Reeves 
Calkins  says :  ^ 

^  The  Elements  of  Stewardship,  7. 


44  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

"  In  the  upper  region  of  the  Amazon,  hundreds  of  miles  from 
any  human  habitation,  travelers  have  found  vast  stretches  of 
food-grains  growing  wild.  Valuable?  Most  surely.  Property? 
Not  yet.  I  do  not  know  how  old  this  plant  is.  Ever  since  the 
earth's  surface  hardened  into  form,  there  has  been  gold  in  the 
western  ridges  of  Pike's  Peak.  Pure  gold?  As  pure  as  ever 
was  fashioned  into  a  king's  goblet.  Property?  Not  until  1890. 
Nobody  knew  that  it  was  there.  .    .    . 

"  There  has  been  but  one  nation  whose  conception  of  property, 
of  *  owning'  things,  was  based  on  the  doctrines  of  a  personal 
God,  and  that  nation  was  Israel.  Of  all  the  other  nations  of 
which  we  have  knowledge — the  Egyptians,  the  Assyrians,  the 
Babylonians,  the  Greeks,  the  Arabians,  the  Romans — their  under- 
lying thought  of  property  and  their  laws  relating  to  property 
were  based  on  the  conception  of  impersonality  in  the  divine 
being.  For  paganism  is  just  that:  thinking  of  deity  in  terms 
of  impersonality. 

"Whence  did  we  receive  our  accepted  standards  of  property 
relationships?  From  the  common  law?  Certainly.  But  our 
'common  law,'  where  does  it  come  from?  From  the  common 
law  of  England,  except  in  Louisiana,  where  the  Napoleonic  code, 
known  as  the  civil  law,  still  is  standard.  But,  whether  the 
'  common  law '  or  the  '  civil  law,'  where  does  it  come  from  ? 
From  the  jurisprudence  of  the  Roman  empire.  Yes,  and 
where  does  that  come  from?  From  the  Stoic  philosophy  of  the 
Roman  lawyer.  When  Cicero  stood  up  in  a  Roman  court  and 
pleaded  for  'the  law,'  he  never  dreamed  of  'the  Law  of  the 
Lord.'  The  Roman  philosophy  of  life,  crystallized  in  Roman 
law  and  through  that  law  standardized  in  Christian  civilization, 
was  not  builded  on  'the  law  of  the  Lord';  it  was  based  on 
the  law  of  nature. 

"Do  you  not  recognize  at  once  where  we  are?  The  average 
man,— and  that  takes  in  all  of  us, — unless  he  has  met  the  issue 
squarely  and  jarred  himself  loose  from  inherited  traditions, 
remains  caught  in  a  pagan  conception  of  property.  His  Chris- 
tian instinct  is  entangled  with  the  honest  belief  that  he  '  owns ' 
what  he  has  been  given  only  to  possess.  There  is  no  intelligent 
recognition  of  stewardship.  How  can  there  be?  His  whole 
history  and  the  entire  combination  of  life  forces  that  have  made 


ACQUIRING  45 

him  what  he  is,  compel  him  to  believe — what  he  sincerely  does 
believe— that  he  is  the  owner  of  his  property." 


The  Master  of  Production.  Jesus  laid  down  the 
law  of  increase  in  his  classic  story  of  the  talents  (Matt. 
25.  14).  Each  one  to  whom  goods  are  committed  is 
under  obligation  to  trade  therewith  himself,  or  put  the 
equivalent  thereof  in  money  with  "  the  bankers,"  so 
that,  being  kept  in  circulation,  it  shall  be  productive. 

The  foolish  virgins,  likewise,  are  condemned  for  not 
going  "  to  them  that  sell "   and  buying  oil    (Matt. 

25.9). 

The  man  in  search  of  hidden  treasure  sells  out 
everything  and  buys  the  field  where  it  is  located  (Matt. 

13.44). 

The  farmer,  when  he  has  followed  his  plow  along 
the  furrows  and  scattered  the  seed,  finds  sun  and 
shower  conspiring  with  the  soil  to  bring  back  thirty 
or  sixty  or  even  an  hundred  fold  when  harvest-time 
rolls  around — so  bountiful  is  the  good  God  who  gives 
the  increase  (Mark  4.  26). 

The  merchantman  is  represented  as  diligently  hunt- 
ing for  pearls;  and  when  his  quest  succeeds,  he  parts 
with  all  else  that  he  may  acquire  the  pearl  of  great 
price  (Matt.  13.  45). 

A  householder  is  planting  a  vineyard,  and  setting  a 
hedge  about  it,  and  digging  a  wine-press,  and  building 
a  tower,   and  letting  it  out  to  husbandmen   (Matt. 

21.33). 

Another  is  hunting  the  labor  market  for  men  to  hire, 


46  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

and  paying  wages  according  to  the  usual  law  of  supply 
and  demand  (Matt.  20.  1-16). 

The  Master  himself  requisitions  an  ass  and  its  colt 
by  the  highway,  on  the  ground  that  he  "  hath  need  of 
them"  (Matt.  21.  1-3). 

So,  through  eyes  that  nothing  escapes,  he  makes  us 
see  the  fisherman  casting  the  drag-net  into  the  sea  and 
gathering  in  an  abundant  haul  (Matt.  13.  47>  4^)- 

To  the  Master  the  kingdom  of  God  is  in  the  very 
midst  of  a  world  bustling  with  all  sorts  of  ceaseless 
activities,  where  men  are  buying  and  selling  and  get- 
ting gain.  It  is  no  part  of  his  plan  to  segregate  his 
followers  in  isolation  camps  or  cloistered  cells.  Rather 
would  he  have  them  carry  the  cross  along  the  thronged 
thoroughfares  and  into  the  very  midst  of  the  marts  of 
trade  and  away  to  the  far  horizons, 

"Where  the  strange  roads  go  down." 

In  barter  and  trade  and  in  all  the  bustle  of  a  work-a- 
day  world.  Christians  are  to  interpret  the  law  of  love 
in  service  and  sacrifice.  Jesus  puts  no  premium  upon 
indolence,  but  ever  upon  industry.  Righteousness 
brings  its  reward,  now  as  ever,  in  assets  that  are  nego- 
tiable on  earth.  "  He  that  tilleth  his  land  shall  have 
plenty  of  bread"  (Prov.  12.  11).  ''He  that  gath- 
ereth  by  labor  shall  have  increase"  (Prov.  13.  11). 
"  In  the  house  of  the  righteous  is  much  treasure ;  but 
in  the  revenues  of  the  wicked  is  trouble"    (Prov. 

15.6). 

According  as  a  man  acquires  possessions  for  the 


ACQUIRING  47 

sake  of  administering  them  in  the  service  of  God  and 
his  fellow  men  or  only  for  his  own  benefit,  he  becomes 
a  benefactor  or  else  an  exactor. 


POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

II,   Acquiring 

Aim  :  To  show  that,  in  the  acquiring  of  money,  the  dominating 

purpose  will  make  a  man  in  the  process  either  a 

benefactor  or  an  exactor. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

How  has  the  war  made  clearer  the  distinction  between  pos- 
session and  ownership,  as  concerns  the  state? 

How  does  the  distinction  apply  in  relation  to  God? 

What  parties  contribute  the  value  of  property? 

What  the  respective  contribution  of  each  partner? 

How  estimate  the  proportions  of  their  investments,  severally? 

What  difference  is  there  between  what  is  earned  and  what 
is  received  from  others? 

Recalling  the  experience  of  getting  my  first  money,  what  does 
it  suggest  for  the  benefit  of  others? 

What  part  has  personality  in  property? 

How  can  I  best  fulfil  to  society  the  partnership  involved  in 
my  possessions? 

How  fulfil  it  to  God? 

What  does  Jesus  teach  as  to  acquiring? 

Problems  from  Life 

I.  A  merchant,  talking  with  his  pastor  about  giving  propor- 
tionately, said :  "  When  I  was  a  poor  boy  earning  only  a  few 
dollars  a  week,  I  gave  a  tithe  to  the  Lord;  when  I  got  a  fairly 
good  salary,  I  still  gave  my  tenth  to  the  Lord;  after  I  became 
comfortably  well  off,  I  continued  to  give  my  tenth;  even  after 
I  became  a  comparatively  wealthy  man,  I  still  gave  my  tenth; 


48  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

but  of  late  years  my  business  has  increased  so  that  I  can  no 
longer  afford  to  give  a  tenth  of  my  profits,  for  I  need  more 
capital." 

His  pastor  replied :  '*  My  dear  friend,  when  did  that  great 
business  which  you  are  conducting  become  your  business ;  when 
did  it  cease  to  be  God's  business ;  when  did  you  cease  to  be 
God's  steward,  conducting  and  administering  the  business  for 
him?" 

Why  should  one  not  draw  upon  his  present  giving  portion, 
if  by  thus  increasing  his  capital  he  may  make  more  money  to 
give  in  the  future? 

H.  Elder  Yuan,  of  China,  and  his  wife  had  five  daughters, 
when  at  length  in  answer  to  their  prayer  they  were  given  a  son, 
whom  they  named  Tien  Si,  "  Heaven's  Gift."  Their  gratitude 
was  expressed  in  more  zealous  service  for  Christ  and  in  yet 
more  generous  giving.  At  their  own  expense  they  opened 
Christian  schools  and  helped  worthy  pupils  through  village 
school,  high  school,  college,  and  theological  seminary.  They 
were  as  ministering  angels  to  the  poor.  Once,  when  some  of 
their  neighbors  were  in  specially  deep  straits,  the  elder,  not 
having  ready  money  available,  had  a  pig  hauled  away  squealing 
to  the  market  to  be  sold,  and  the  need  was  relieved.  When  the 
war  broke  out,  he  opened  a  new  line  of  business,  including  the 
manufacture  of  aniline  dyes,  which  he  called  "  The  United  with 
Heaven  Business."  It  was  to  be  conducted  in  partnership  with 
the  Lord,  and  the  following  principles  were  laid  down  as  the 
basis : 

1.  One  tenth  of  all  the  profits  to  be  devoted  to  extending 
the  kingdom  of  God; 

2.  The  whole  of  Elder  Yuan's  share  to  be  thus  devoted; 

3.  No  drinking  or  gambling  to  be  permitted  on  the  premises; 

4.  A  Gospel  Meeting  to  be  held  every  evening; 

5.  No  business  to  be  done  on  the   Sabbath; 

6.  Only  earnest  Christians  to  be  employed. 

The  business  prospered  to  such  an  extent  as  to  excite  the 
envy   of   the   heathen    round   about. 

Can  you  cite  a  parallel  to  this  in  American  business  life? 
How  would  you  adapt  the  basis  of  this  Chinaman's  business 
to  Western  conditions? 


Ill 

SPENDING 
"  Use  me  or  lose  me." 


Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread? 
and  your  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  (Isa.  55.2)  ? 

If  any  provideth  not  for  his  own,  and  specially  his  own  house- 
hold, he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  unbeliever 
(I  Tim.  5.8). 

His  disciples  were  gone  away  into  the  city  to  buy  food 
(John  4.8). 


Ill 

SPENDING 

The  true  steward  will  look  upon  the  outlay  of  his 
whole  life  as  a  trust,  to  be  administered  for  God  and 
for  the  good  of  men.  This  will  include  not  merely  his 
money,  but,  likewise,  his  time  and  strength,  his  talent 
and  influence,  his  experience  and  all  that  goes  to  make 
up  personality.  He  will  expend  all  for  his  Lord  and 
under  his  personal  direction. 

Budgeting  Time.  He  will  do  wxll  to  make  up  a 
time  budget;  for  ''time  is  money."  Unlike  money, 
however,  it  cannot  be  saved ;  it  can  only  be  spent,  and, 
if  not  spent  wisely  and  well,  it  is  wasted.  There  is 
no  way  of  storing  it;  once  gone,  it  never  returns. 
Hence,  it  is  necessary  to  take  it  as  it  is  passing  and 
put  it  to  the  very  best  uses.  Odd  moments  may  be 
utilized  to  the  greatest  advantage  if  by  foresight  pro- 
vision is  made  to  prevent  them  from  going  to  waste. 
The  knitting-needle,  which  nowadays  flashes  before 
our  eyes  on  every  side,  affords  a  ubiquitous  object- 
lesson  of  the  stewardship  of  time.  One  of  the  lessons 
it  teaches  is  the  necessity  of  having  a  worth-while  in- 
centive in  order  to  spend  time  to  good  account.  It 
is  in  their  abiHty  to  gather  up  and  use  to  advantage 

51 


52  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

the  fragments  of  time  that  some  men  outdistance 
others  in  the  race  of  life.  Thus  David  Livingstone, 
with  a  Latin  book  before  him  as  he  worked  his  weav- 
er's loom,  enriched  his  mind  while  employing  his  hands. 
By  making  a  time  budget,  not  only  will  waste  be 
avoided  but  distribution  will  be  more  wisely  made. 
Not  all  of  one's  waking  hours  are  to  be  spent  in  work. 
Ample  time  should  be  set  aside  for  relaxation  and  some 
for  self-improvement,  while  not  a  little  should  be  de- 
voted to  service  for  others  through  the  church  and  the 
community.  Without  applying  some  sort  of  measur- 
ing-rod true  proportion  may  not  be  preserved.  The 
portion  of  time  required  for  earning  a  living  will 
necessarily  depend  upon  one's  capacities,  opportuni- 
ties, and  obligation;  but  under  normal  conditions  the 
hours  devoted  to  this  purpose  should  not  absorb  all  of 
one's  working  energy.  There  should  be  a  liberal  al- 
lowance made  for  recreation  and  reading  as  well  as 
for  rest  and  sleep  and  not  a  little  be  devoted  to  the 
family,  both  at  meals  and  elsewhere.  Have  you  for 
a  single  day  or,  better  still,  for  a  series  of  days  kept 
a  record  of  how  your  time  is  spent  ?  Have  you,  then, 
deliberately  determined  a  standard  and  set  about  ad- 
justing your  time  to  it?  If  not,  try  it.  Health  de- 
pends upon  exercising  this  stewardship  faithfully. 
Prodigality  of  physical  energy,  especially  in  early  life, 
may  entail  debts  which  will  inevitably  be  collected  in 
doctor's  bills  and  premature  debility  or  death.  But, 
far  more  than  this,  failure  to  spend  one's  time  as  God's 
steward  should  use  it  entails  forfeiture  of  much  of 


SPENDING  53 

the  zest  and  joy  which  life  has  in  store  for  those  who 
are  faithful  to  this  trust. 

While  much  of  life  cannot  possibly  be  converted 
into  money,  yet  money  may  exercise  almost  magical 
power — and  that  both  objectively  and  subjectively — 
in  the  process  of  spending  it.  Through  it  personality 
may  be  projected  to  remote  regions  and  down  through 
years  to  come.  No  wonder  that  men  become  fas- 
cinated with  the  lure  of  the  power  thus  put  within 
their  reach,  so  that  in  not  a  few  cases  they  are  caught 
in  the  cogs  of  the  machinery  of  money-making  and  are 
themselves  maimed,  if  not  ruined,  thereby. 

Money's  Magic  Pov^er.  It  is  said  that  you  must 
live  with  people  before  you  really  come  to  know  them. 
Perhaps  it  is  an  even  surer  test  to  have  money  dealings 
with  them..  The  pocket-book  is  like  a  sensitive  nerve; 
touch  it  and  you  will  soon  discover  whether  its  owner 
is  unselfish  or  otherwise.  Cash  is  an  acid  test  of 
character.  The  objects  to  which  a  man  applies 
his  power  not  only  largely  determine  the  output 
of  his  money  to  obtain  it  but  likewise  reflect  the 
true  inwardness  of  the  man.  Love  of  family  and 
friends  is  a  powerful  motive,  but,  if  this  inner 
circle  is  allowed  to  become  the  limit  of  man's 
interests  to  the  exclusion  of  the  claims  of  the 
wider  world,  it  circumscribes  his  own  development. 
A  man  cannot  become  larger  than  the  mold  in  which 
he  is  being  made.  He  who  would  make  his  environ- 
ment while  his  environment  is  making  him  must  at- 
tend well  to  how  he  handles  his  money,  especially  in 


54  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

the  spending  of  it.  For  in  the  disposing  of  money  no 
less  than  in  the  making  of  it  is  the  real  man  revealed. 
All  unconsciously,  it  may  be,  his  motives,  his  tastes,  his 
affections,  his  aims,  become  objective  in  his  money. 
As  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler  used  to  say,  "  What  a 
young  man  earns  in  the  day  goes  into  his  pocket;  but 
what  he  spends  in  the  evening  goes  into  his  character." 
The  spender,  then,  may  discover  wkat  manner  of  man 
he  is  by  seeing  for  what  his  money  is  spent. 

A  Means  of  Molding  Character.  In  view  of  the 
possibilities  which  the  spending  of  money  involves  in 
the  way  of  reflex  effect  upon  character,  attention 
should  be  given  from  earliest  childhood  to  directing 
the  process  aright.  The  spending  of  money  is  the 
essential  prelude  to  earning  it.  Only  as  its  purchasing 
power  is  discovered  is  there  afforded  that  incentive 
which  is  necessary  to  meet  the  cost  of  getting  it.  Too 
often  a  child's  spending  begins  in  purchasing  self- 
indulgences.  Candy  stores  in  the  vicinity  of  a  school 
are  in  many  instances  almost  wholly  supported  by  the 
cents  and  nickels  of  children.  An  investigation  in  a 
poor  neighborhood  in  Chicago  shows  that  many  of  the 
children  spend  from  a  dime  to  a  quarter  of  a  dollar 
a  week  for  sweets.  A  child  needs  first  of  all  to  be 
trained  to  spend  properly.  The  lesson  may  need  to  be 
learned  in  some  cases  by  first  spending  to  poor  ad- 
vantage, rather  than  by  having  free  choice  interfered 
with  overmuch.^ 

^  E.  A.  Kirkpatrick,  The  Use  of  Money:  How  to  Save  and 
Spend. 


SPENDING  55 

Using  Money.  Once  one  has  money,  he  must  forth- 
with face  the  responsibiHty  it  brings — the  responsi- 
bility of  rightly  using  it.  Coming  in  a  continuous 
series,  it  estabHshes  a  process  which  forms  habit  and 
powerfully  affects  character.  That  indeed  is  a  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  purpose  of  money,  seeing  that  it  is 
not  only  an  instrument  with  which  its  possessor  may 
work  but  one  by  which  he  is  himself  fashioned.  The 
possessor  of  money  must  be  constantly  making  deci- 
sions as  to  the  uses  to  which  he  will  put  it. 

Money  is  not  all  meant  to  be  spent;  some  of  it 
should  be  saved;  much  of  it  should  be  given  for  the 
service  of  God  and  our  fellow  men.  How  much  of  it 
should  be  saved  and  how  much  of  it  should  be  set 
apart  for  giving  must  necessarily  depend  upon  how 
much  is  really  required  for  the  expenses  of  living. 
This  will  vary  according  to  climatic,  racial,  economic, 
and  other  conditions.  In  the  very  same  locality  it  will 
vary  according  to  social  position  and  training.  Even 
in  two  cases  where  the  income  is  the  same  the  obliga- 
tions may  be  quite  different.  One  couple  is  childless, 
while  another  next  door  has  seven  children.  The  next 
two  families  number  the  same,  but  in  one  of  the  homes 
there  is  a  sickly  cripple  who  has  been  dependent  all 
his  life  long,  entailing  heavy  doctor's  bills,  while  in 
the  other  there  is  abounding  health  with  never  a  need 
of  medical  services.  Even  though  things  are  all  fairly 
equal,  there  may  yet  be  wide  variation  in  determining 
the  amount  needed  for  living,  because  of  varying 
capacity  for  management  in  buying  and  conserving 


56  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

supplies,  because  of  previous  experience  or  inexperi- 
ence, because  of  knowledge  or  ignorance  of  food  values 
and  of  cooking,  because  of  difference  of  requirements 
as  to  household  service  and  the  possibility  of  securing 
needed  help. 

Lord  Bacon  says :  "  Riches  are  for  spending,  and 
spending  for  honor  and  good  actions;  therefore  ex- 
traordinary expense  must  be  limited  by  the  worth  of 
the  occasion;  for  voluntary  undoing  may  be  as  well 
for  a  man's  country  as  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven; 
but  ordinary  expense  ought  to  be  limited  by  a  man's 
estate,  and  governed  with  such  regard  as  it  be  within 
his  compass;  and  not  subject  to  deceit  and  abuse  of 
servants;  and  ordered  to  the  best  show,  that  the  bills 
may  be  less  than  the  estimation  abroad." 

Giving  and  Saving  Regulate  Spending.  The 
amount  available  for  living  expenses  will  depend,  like- 
wise, upon  whether  or  not  a  definite  portion  is  re- 
ligiously set  aside  to  be  administered  in  giving,  ex- 
pecting no  return;  also  upon  what  is  being  saved,  by 
compulsory  payments  or  otherwise.  Here,  for  in- 
stance, are  two  brothers  each  receiving  $4,000  a  year 
and  similarly  situated  in  other  respects.  One,  with  the 
best  of  intentions  as  to  giving  what  he  can  spare,  scales 
his  living  expenses  with  reference  to  his  entire  income, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  year  finds  it  practically  all  ex- 
pended. The  other  determines  to  dedicate  one  eighth 
of  his  income  to  be  given  away,  and  by  careful 
economy  finds  that  he  has  been  able  to  save  more  out 
of  four  fifths  of  his  salary  than  his  brother  saves  out 


SPENDING  57 

of  the  whole.  His  whole  plan  of  expenditure  proceeds 
upon  the  basis,  not  of  $4,000  a  year,  but  of  $3,500. 
Thus  while  his  Benevolence  Fund  is  always  ready  to 
meet  every  legitimate  claim,  it  pays  for  itself — perhaps 
more  than  pays  for  itself — by  acting  as  an  automatic 
check  upon  the  Vanity  Fund,  the  Hobby  Fund,  the 
Folly  Fund,  and  those  other  channels  through  which 
so  much  money  goes  to  waste. 

The  portion  to  be  given  should  be  fixed  first  of  all; 
living  expenses  should  then  be  regulated  accordingly. 
And  out  of  the  balance  savings  should  be  laid  aside 
and  giving  increased  as  God  makes  it  possible. 

"  The  first  expenditure  of  all  should  be  that  which 
sanctifies  the  rest — that  which  is  not  for  self  or  flesh 
or  earth  or  time,  but  for  the  Lord,  for  gratitude,  for 
the  training  of  the  soul,  for  store  in  heaven.  Our  own 
morsel  will  be  sweeter  and  more  wholesome,  too,  when 
the  due  acknowledgment  has  been  first  laid  with  a 
bountiful  hand  and  a  thankful  heart  on  the  altar  of 
the  Savior.  *  Ye  shall  eat  neither  bread,  nor  parched 
corn,  nor  green  ears,  until  the  selfsame  day  that  ye 
have  brought  an  offering  unto  your  God '  (Lev.  23. 
14).  This  was  the  spirit  of  the  first-fruits — a  spirit 
of  noble  preference  for  the  honor  of  God  over  selfish 
care."  ^ 

While  the  portion  to  be  given  away  and  that  to  be 
saved  are  to  be  treated  in  later  chapters,  the  part  to 
be  used  for  one's  own  living  expenses  now  calls  for  the 
most  careful  and  conscientious  consideration.    In  many 

*  William  Arthur,  The  Duty  of  Giving  Away. 


58  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

cases  this  will  be  the  larger  part  of  the  income  and 
perhaps  the  more  difficult  to  handle.  For,  sometimes 
it  is  assumed  that,  when  once  a  portion  has  been  set 
apart  for  unselfish  purposes,  one  can  do  with  the  rest 
as  he  wills.  For  Christ's  man,  such  will  not  be  the 
case.  With  him  the  test  question  will  be  not  how  much 
of  his  money  must  he  give  to  God,  but  how  little  need 
he  use  for  his  own  expenses  and  how  much  can  he 
give  for  the  sake  of  others. 

Controlling  Principles.  The  Christian  will  regu- 
late his  expenditure  by  the  principles  which  his  Master 
taught  and  himself  followed.  There  is  no  suggestion 
of  asceticism  in  all  the  record  of  his  life  on  earth. 
In  the  thirty  years  of  preparation,  when  working  at 
his  trade,  he  no  doubt  spent  as  well  as  earned.  He 
must  have  been  accustomed  to  handle  money  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  his  daily  transactions  with  others 
throughout  that  period.  But  when  he  laid  down  his 
carpenter's  tools  and  gave  up  his  means  of  livelihood, 
to  engage  in  his  public  ministry,  he  adopted  a  mode  of 
life  which  in  the  very  nature  of  it  involved  dependence 
and  poverty.  Those  who  followed  him  likewise  de- 
liberately left  behind  the  fishing-net  and  the  counting- 
room.  For  them  as  for  himself  the  principle  applied 
was  this,  that  ''  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  food  " 
(Matt.  10.  lo).  As  Paul  afterward  put  it,  "What 
soldier  ever  serveth  at  his  own  charges?  Who  plant- 
eth  a  vineyard,  and  eateth  not  the  fruit  thereof  ?  .  .  . 
If  we  sowed  unto  you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great 
matter  if  we  shall  reap  your  carnal  things  (i  Cor.  9. 


SPENDING  59 

7-11)  ?"  The  directions  given  to  the  Twelve  (Matt. 
10),  as  well  as  those  to  the  Seventy  (Luke  10),  were 
intended,  not  for  all  disciples  but  for  those  who  were 
giving  full-time  service,  which  prevented  them  from 
providing  their  own  support. 

To  apply  to  all  Christians  what  was  specifically 
designed  for  a  special  class  who  should  be  devoted 
wholly  to  a  religious  ministry,  a  class  comparatively 
limited  in  number,  cannot  but  lead  to  confusion.  Had 
there  not  been  those  who  earned  and  spent,  who  built 
houses  and  furnished  them,  there  would  have  been 
none  "  worthy  "  to  receive  our  Lord  or  his  messengers, 
in  the  villages  and  cities  to  which  they  came. 

No,  Jesus  knew — and  he  knew  that  the  Father  like- 
wise knew — that  we  '*  have  need  of  these  things  " 
(Luke  12.  30).  He  expects  us  to  have  money  and  to 
spend  it.  Yes,  more,  the  Lord  leads  us  to  expect  that 
the  Father  himself  will  add  "  these  things,'*  if  we  will 
but  meet  the  one  condition  of  putting  them  always  in 
their  right  relation  to  the  Kingdom.  All  of  our  spend- 
ing is  to  be  on  the  basis  of  ''  first  his  kingdom  "  (Matt. 
6.  33).  Given  that,  there  can  never  be  any  room  for 
worry.  "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  de- 
livered him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  also  with 
him  freely  give  us  all  things  (Rom.  8.32)?"  He 
"  giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy  "  (i  Tim.  6.  17). 
He  who  so  royally  clothes  the  lilies  of  the  field  and  so 
constantly  feeds  the  ravens  on  the  wing  will  not  let 
his  children  want  for  any  good  thing.  "  No  good 
thing  will  he  withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly  " 


6o  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

(Psa.  84.  11).  Therefore,  ''in  nothing  be  anxious"' 
(Phil.  4.  6).  No  one  ever  passed  through  this  world 
so  utterly  care-free  as  our  Lord,  who  used  it  as  not 
abusing  it.  What  he  instructed  his  messengers  to  do 
he  did  himself — entered  the  house  where  the  latch- 
string  was  out  and  in  that  same  house  remained,  eating 
and  drinking  such  things  as  they  gave  (Luke  10.7). 
He  does  not  intend  that  any  steward  of  his  should 
be  stinted.  The  Chief  Partner  provides,  as  a  charge 
upon  his  estate,  for  whatever  the  stezvard  may  need 
in  order  to  he  at  his  best  to  do  the  best  service  for  the 
Kingdom.  Ample  latitude  is  allowed.  No  hard  and 
fast  lines  are  laid  down.  God's  stewards  are  allowed 
large  liberty  to  use  their  own  sound  sense  in  deter- 
mining what  is  requisite,  providing  only  and  always 
that  they  "  seek  first  his  kingdom  "  and  be  ready  at 
any  time  for  an  accounting. 

Simple  Life  the  Best.  There  is  no  place,  however, 
for  extravagance  or  waste  in  God's  household.  "  Hav- 
ing food  and  covering"  (i  Tim.  6.  8),  we  are  to  be 
therewith  content.  These  are  broad  terms,  and  to  be 
taken  in  no  narrow  sense.  Food  includes  all  that  is 
needed  to  sustain  life  at  its  maximum  efficiency — not 
merely  meat  for  the  body,  but  also  food  for  thought, 
and  that  beauty  upon  which  the  eye  is  so  wonder- 
fully adapted  to  feast.  Under  the  category  of  "  cover- 
ing "  comes  not  only  the  coat  on  one's  back  but  the  roof 
over  his  head,  together  with  whatever  of  convenience 
and  of  comfort  may  be  required  for  the  highest  stand- 
ard of  health  and  working  capacity.    We  have  no  rail- 


SPENDING  6i 

ing  accusation  to  bring  against  making  one's  home 
comfortable  and  beautiful,  dressing  well,  or  having 
abundance  of  good  nourishing  food  on  the  table,  pay- 
ing whatever  is  necessary  to  promote  health  or  secure 
needed  recreation.  But  it  is  quite  a  different  matter 
when  a  church  officer  admits  that  he  smokes  on  an 
average  ten  cigars  a  day,  amounting  in  a  year  to  more 
than  $350  for  this  single  self-indulgence.  Where 
there  is  such  callousness  to  others'  needs,  "  to  him  it 
is  sin." 

For  What  to  Spend  and  Hov^r.  The  faithful 
steward  will  regulate  his  spending  in  the  light  of  the 
foregoing  principles.  To  do  so,  he  will,  at  the  outset, 
take  into  account  what  are  the  various  objects  of 
legitimate  expenditure.     In  the  main  they  are  these: 

1.  Living  necessities  for  oneself  and  those  de- 
pendent upon  him — food,  raiment,  shelter,  and  the  like. 

2.  Means  of  higher  development — education,  music, 
and  kindred  interests. 

3.  -Care  and  repair  of  body  and  mind — recreative, 
medical,  and  other  upbuilding  agencies  and  the  like. 

4.  Government  and  public  utilities — institutions 
which  minister  to  the  welfare  of  the  community,  state, 
and  nation. 

5.  Maintenance  of  business,  profession,  or  other 
means  of  livelihood. 

The  order  here  indicated  is  not  necessarily  the  order 
of  relative  importance.  Indeed,  most  of  these  obliga- 
tions are  concurrent.  They  should  be  viewed  in  their 
entirety,  so  as  to  regulate  what  is  expended  for  them 


62  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

with  due  sense  of  proportion  in  relation  to  one  another. 

The   steward   is  required   to   be  a   good   spender. 

Among  the  principles  to  guide  in  spending,  are  these : 

1.  Never  spend  what  you  have  not  got. 

2.  Never  buy  what  you  do  not  need. 

3.  The  best  is  the  cheapest,  if  really  needed. 

4.  Do  not  seek  to  get  something  for  nothing  or 
more  than  fair  value. 

"  When  we  have  asked  the  Lord  to  take,  and  con- 
tinually trust  him  to  keep,  our  money,"  says  Frances 
Ridley  Havergal,  "  shopping  becomes  a  different  thing. 
We  look  up  to  him  for  guidance  to  lay  out  his  money 
prudently  and  rightly,  and  as  he  would  lay  it  out.  It 
may  become  impossible  any  longer  to  patronize  the 
*  bargain  counter.'  For  our  Lord  is  the  Lord  of  labor, 
even  as  he  is  the  Lord  of  the  treasury,  and  he  will 
not  be  party  to  the  sweat-shop.  He  insists  upon  a 
living  wage  for  the  lowliest  laborer.'* 

While  one  should  make  sure  to  get  full  value  for 
his  outlay,  nevertheless  it  is  quite  necessary  to  dis- 
criminate. Some  sorts  of  "  economy  "  may  in  fact 
be  only  wasting.  It  is  possible  to  be  altogether  too 
sparing  in  spending.  "  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money 
for  that  which  is  not  bread?  and  your  labor  for  that 
which  satisfieth  not  (Isa.  55.2)?"  A  Scotch  friend 
tells  of  a  lad  who,  on  going  up  for  the  first  time  from 
his  highland  village  to  London,  sat  down  on  a  chair  in 
Hyde  Park.  Before  long  a  ''  Bobbie  "  appeared  and 
demanded  a  **  tuppence." 


SPENDING  63 

"  And  what  should  I  pay  a  tuppence  for  ?  "  indig- 
nantly responded  the  Scotch  lad. 

"  For  sittin'  on  the  chair/'  answered  the  officer. 

"  And  how  long  can  I  sit  here,  if  I  pay  a  tuppence?  " 

"  Oh,  as  long  as  you  like.'' 

"  And,  to  be  sure,  I  sat  there  all  the  rest  of  the 
day,"  triumphantly  announced  Sandy,  when  he  got 
back  to  his  native  heath  once  more. 

"  To  lose  money  ill,"  says  Ruskin,  "  is  indeed  often 
a  crime,  but  to  get  it  ill  is  a  worse  one,  and  to  spend 
it  ill  is  worst  of  all."  When  a  man  spends  as  God's 
steward,  he  must  ascertain  his  Master's  mind.  Not 
what  the  steward  wishes  but  what  the  Owner  directs 
will  determine  every  detail. 

Motive  Determines.  Luxury,  whether  it  cost 
much  or  little,  is  whatever  "  does  not  best  serve  man's 
essential  need  in  the  pursuit  of  his  highest  develop- 
ment in  respect  of  himself  and  his  fellow  men,"  and, 
of  course,  that  is  not  allowable  under  any  circum- 
stances for  the  Christian. 

Money  spent  upon  oneself,  however,  is  not  neces- 
sarily spent  selfishly.  If  spent  in  order  to  enlarge  one's 
power  to  serve  and  enrich  the  life  so  as  to  make  it 
more  effective,  an  expenditure  may  be  fully  justified 
which  would  be  inexcusable  if  made  merely  for  one's 
own  enjoyment.  The  motive  must  be  the  determining 
factor.  Even  the  lavish  outlay  of  the  woman  who 
bought  the  precious  spikenard  and  anointed  the  Master 
with  it  was  emphatically  approved  by  him,  though  by 
others  condemned  as  wasteful.     Not  the  price  of  the 


64  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

thing  purchased  but  the  purpose  of  it  determines 
whether  it  is  a  luxury  or  a  wise  investment. 

It  is  possible  to  spend  money  on  others  in  a  way  that 
both  wastes  the  money  and  injures  those  on  whom  it 
is  expended.  A  father,  writing  in  an  American  maga- 
zine, says :  "  I  am  spending  $9,000  a  year  in  raising 
my  three  children.  By  the  time  they  are  grown,  I 
figure  each  one  of  them  will  represent  an  outlay  of 
$100,000.  Sometimes,  I  wonder  whether  this  is  not 
too  much.  Then  my  love  for  my  children  sweeps 
over  me,  and  I  think  that  nothing  I  can  spend  on  them 
is  too  much."  This  man's  annual  income  averages 
$30,000,  and  apparently  the  only  consideration  which 
enters  in  to  limit  what  he  spends  upon  his  children  is 
that  of  other  demands  upon  him  for  expenditure; 
giving  for  the  sake  of  others,  outside  his  own  family, 
does  not  appear  to  enter  into  his  account  at  all.  If 
it  did,  it  might  save  him  from  doing  injury  to  his 
children  by  indulgence.  That  father  is  far  wiser  who, 
although  having  an  ample  income,  insists  that,  for  the 
sake  of  the  effect  it  is  sure  to  have  upon  their  own 
development,  his  boys  shall  help  work  their  own  way 
through  college. 

Degrees  of  Expenditure.  Within  each  main  item 
of  expenditure  there  are  wide  latitudes  for  exercising 
one's  judgment  between  the  extremes  of  necessity  and 
luxury,  with  conveniences  and  comforts  lying  midway 
between.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  define  these  de- 
grees in  turn.^ 

*  Robert  Irwin  MacBride,  Luxury  a  Social  Standard. 


SPENDING  65 

A  Necessity  is  something  indispensable  to  well- 
being. 

A  Convenience  is  something  that,  though  not  essen- 
tial, makes  living  easier. 

A  Comfort  is  something  that  brings  satisfaction 
without  extraordinary  expense. 

A  Luxury  is  something  that  affords  self -gratifica- 
tion in  an  unusual  and  costly  manner. 

Concretely:  food  is  a  necessity;  tables,  chairs, 
and  crockery  are  conveniences;  table  linens  are  com- 
forts; Limoges  chinaware,  cut  glass,  and  sterling  sil- 
ver are  luxuries.  Definitions,  however,  cannot  be  more 
than  relative,  for  the  standards  themselves  necessarily 
vary  according  to  local  conditions.  What  would  be 
luxury  for  one  may  be  necessity  for  another.  Place 
may  make  all  the  difference  between  luxury  and  needs. 
An  Aleutian  islander  without  a  copper  may  find  seal- 
skin the  cheapest  clothing  possible,  being  the  most 
available  as  well  as  the  most  suitable.  But  if  he  were 
to  migrate  to  New  York  City,  he  might  realize  for  a 
single  sealskin  enough  to  live  on  for  a  year  or  more 
upon  his  native  island. 

Standards  of  luxury  vary,  too,  in  different  social 
classes  according  as  income  may  be  sufficient  or  in- 
sufficient for  maintaining  the  working  efficiency  of  a 
family.  As  income  increases,  expenditure  increases 
along  the  lines  of  greatest  desires.  When  income 
becomes  more  than  sufficient  for  physical  necessities, 
then  come  comforts  and  after  that  luxuries.  The  con- 
ception of  the  standard  of  living  involves,  also,  some 


66  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

consideration  of  the  efforts  and  sacrifices  people  are 
prepared  to  make  to  attain  it — of  their  ideals  and  char- 
acter and  of  the  relative  strength  of  the  different  mo- 
tives which  usually  determine  their  conduct.  Social 
convention  often  affects  one's  estimate  of  luxury. 
Consider  the  cases  of  different  individuals  whose  in- 
terests call  them  to  go  a  mile : 

A — ,  whose  time  is  ample  and  his  labor  cheap,  pre- 
fers to  walk. 

B — ,  having  less  time  and  more  profitable  labor, 
takes  a  trolley. 

C — ,  being  in  great  demand,  hires  a  taxicab. 

D — ,  hard  pressed  for  time,  keeps  his  own  auto- 
mobile and  goes  in  it. 

A —  might  find  even  the  trolley  a  luxury. 
B —  would  not  regard  the  taxicab  as  at  all  necessary. 
C —  prefers  the  public  taxicab  to  keeping  a  machine 
of  his  own. 

D —  uses  his  limousine  as  a  matter  of  course. 

It  might  be  waste  for  D  to  hire  a  public  taxicab, 
for  C  to  ride  in  the  trolley-car,  or  for  B  to  expend 
his  time  and  strength  in  walking.  Here  are  four 
standards:  A,  the  very  poor;  B,  the  poor;  C,  the  well- 
to-do;  D,  the  rich.  Each  of  these  might  in  turn  be 
subdivided.  For  none  of  them  does  God  lay  down 
any  rigid  rule  of  spending,  but  this  broad  principle 
for  all :  "  Seek  ye  first  his  kingdom  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you  '* 
(Matt.  6.33). 


SPENDING  67 

It  is  the  glory  of  Christ  that  he  takes  the  very  thing 
that  is  so  often  bound  up  with  self-interest — "  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness  " — and  he  uses  it  as  a 
means  of  righteousness,  for  making  men  like  God. 
Money,  the  cause  of  so  much  sin  and  sorrow,  becomes 
a  means  of  grace  to  him  who  learns  to  use  it  for  God's 
glory.  According  as  a  man  spends  it  in  self-indulgence 
or  as  a  steward  of  Christ  he  becomes  a  provider  or  a 
prodigal. 

POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

III.   Spending 

Aim:    To  show  that,  in  the  outlay  of  life  as  represented  by 

money  and  all  else  that  it  involves,  a  man  becomes  a 

provider  or  a  prodigal  according  as  he  is  or  is 

not  a  faithful  steward. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

In  planning  the  outlay  of  life,  what  besides  money  is  to  be 
reckoned  ? 

What  advantage  in  budgeting  time? 

How  do  the  objects  on  which  money  is  spent  reveal  the  true 
inwardness  of  the  spender? 

For  what  did  I  spend  my  first  money?    How  did  it  affect  me? 

What  place  should  spending  have  in  child-training? 

What  uses  of  money  are  there,  other  than  for  living,  which 
should   regulate  the   entire  expenditure? 

Should  personal  expenses  increase  in  proportion  to  increase 
of  income? 

What  principles  did  Jesus  lay  down  to  guide  outlay? 

What  are  legitimate  objects  for  which  to  spend? 

Under  what  circumstances  is  debt  justifiable? 


68  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

What  should  be  the  dominating  motive  in  spending? 
Distinguish  between  necessities  and  luxuries. 
Has  a  Christian  a  right  ever  to  indulge  in  luxury? 

Problems  from  Life 

I.  In  the  Blue  Book  of  an  establishment  on  Fifth  Avenue 
are  listed:  for  children — a  gold  spoon  for  $45,  a  rattle  for  $50, 
cup  for  $230,  porringer  $350,  breakfast  set  $1,800;  for  v^omen — 
shoe  buttoner  $138,  combination  cigaret  and  vanity  case  $575, 
card-case  $725,  shopping-bag  $800,  cologne  bottle  $1,150,  dia- 
mond bracelets  $14,500  and  upward,  pearl  necklaces  $30,000  up 
to  $350,000;  for  men — cane  $75,  cigar  holder  $90,  cigar  case 
$260,  cigaret  case  $500. 

A  well-known  grocery  on  the  same  avenue  lists  cigars  $365 
a  hundred  or  five  dollars  for  a  single  one.  Across  the  way 
from  that  cigar-counter  might  have  been  seen  crowds  of  the 
city's  poor  standing  in  line  in  winter,  waiting  to  get  cast-off 
clothing  to  cover  their  nakedness.  According  to  statements  pub- 
lished by  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  there  are  10,000,000 
people — one  tenth  of  the  population  in  the  United  States — 
living  in  poverty,  of  whom  4,000,000  are  public  charges.^ 

What  is  wrong  with  a  society  which  presents  such  a  contrast? 

II.  A  minister  in  the  Northwest,  on  a  salary  of  $800,  con- 
scientiously giving  a  definite  proportion,  being  anxious  to  im- 
prove the  church  music,  opened  a  subscription  by  pledging  $50. 
The  Ladies'  Aid  Committee,  having  the  fund  in  hand,  after 
consultation  had  one  of  the  members  suggest  as  tactfully  as 
possible  that  his  $50  be  applied,  instead,  to  employing  much- 
needed  household  help,  so  as  to  save  his  wife  from  a  physical 
breakdown. 

What  would  you  have  done,  if  in  the  minister's  place?  What 
would  you  have  said,  if  sent  to  him  by  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society? 
Under  what  item  in  the  personal  budget  would  you  have  en- 
tered the  $50,  if  used  for  household  help?  What  is  the  real 
remedy  for  such  a  situation? 

^     *  Robert  Irwin  MacBride,  Luxury  as  a  Social  Standard. 


IV 
SAVING 

I  will  place  no  value  on  anything  I  have  or  may  possess, 
except  in  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ," 


There  is  a  grievous  evil  which  I  have  seen  under  the  sun, 
namely  riches  kept  by  the  owner  thereof  to  his  hurt;  and  those 
riches  perish  by  evil  adventure;  and  if  he  has  begotten  a  son, 
there  is  nothing  in  his  hand.  .  .  .  And  what  profit  hath  he,  that 
he  laboreth  for  the  wind?     (Eccl.  5.  13-16). 

I  will  pull  down  my  barns  and  build  greater,  and  there  I  will 
bestow  all  my  grain  and  my  goods.  •  •  •  He  layeth  up  treasure 
for  himself  (Luke  12.18,21). 

He  heapeth  up  riches  and  knoweth  not  who  shall  gather 
them  (Ps.  39.  6), 

He  earneth  wages  to  put  it  into  a  bag  with  holes  (Hag.  1.6). 

Gather  up  the  broken  pieces  which  remain  over,  that  nothing 
be  lost  (John  6.  12). 

Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  the  earth,  where 
moth  and  rust  do  corrupt  and  where  thieves  break  through  and 
steal;  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven  (Matt. 
6. 19,  20). 


IV 

SAVING 

A  Nation  Learning  Economy.  It  is  an  impressive 
spectacle  to  see  a  whole  nation  which  had  become 
wantonly  wasteful  going  to  school  to  learn  to  save. 
Within  the  very  first  year  after  entering  into  war  the 
people  of  the  United  States  of  America  had  made 
amazing  progress  in  economy.  Where  ordinarily  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  save  from  five  to  six  billion 
dollars  annually,  that  amount  speedily  trebled.  Sav- 
ings banks,  postal  savings,  and  building  loan  associa- 
tions all  have  shown  steadily  increasing  deposits. 
Habits  of  thrift  are  being  confirmed  and  extended 
more  and  more  widely.  Not  only  in  money,  but  in  all 
sorts  of  food-stufTs  and  fuel  and  clothing  and  raw 
material  is  the  effect  of  saving  seen.  The  wastage  of 
saw-mills — what  has  hitherto  been  cast  aside  or  carried 
off  at  the  expense  of  the  mill — in  saw-dust  or  shavings 
or  remnants  of  wood  is  now  being  converted  into  grain 
alcohol,  dyes,  tannin,  turpentine,  resin,  and  other  val- 
uable products.  Wood  ashes  is  turned  into  soap — as 
it  once  was  in  nearly  every  home — and  it  is  utilized  as 
a  substitute  for  potash.  Even  silk  hose,  neckties,  and 
dress  braids,  it  is  found,  can  be  made  of  wood.  "* 

71 


72  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

In  other  nations,  likewise,  the  call  to  save  is  being 
heard  and  heeded.  In  Great  Britain  provision  is  made 
for  collecting  and  using  nearly  everything  which  was 
formerly  cast  out  as  household  waste,  such  as  rags, 
waste  paper,  old  metal,  broken  glass,  old  cans,  and  all 
sorts  of  kitchen  refuse.  It  is  all  sorted  and  sent  to 
centers  where  it  can  be  made  to  replace  something  that 
otherwise  would  have  to  be  brought  in  ships.  Many 
experiments  have  been  made.  Oil  for  engines  has  been 
extracted  from  bad  fish  and  meat,  food  for  poultry 
and  pigs  from  other  kinds  of  refuse,  potash  from 
stalks  of  vegetables.  Old  tin  cans  from  Nottingham 
are  now  yielding  400  tons  of  iron  a  year,  which  is 
converted  into  a  low  class  steel  for  war  purposes. 
One  of  the  triumphs  of  economy  has  been  achieved  in 
the  extraction  and  use  of  the  oil  with  which  leather  is 
dressed. 

Thus  the  call  to  conserve  resources,  avoid  all  lux- 
uries, and  cut  down  to  the  utmost  even  on  necessities 
has  been  heard  and  heeded  on  all  sides. 

One  who  resigned  a  bank  presidency,  giving  up  a 
salary  of  $50,000  a  year  in  order  to  give  his  services 
entirely  to  his  country  without  pay,  has  acquired  the 
right  to  say  to  his  fellow  Americans :  "  This  is  a  time 
when  we  must  cut  expenses  to  the  bone.  Young  men 
who  spend  money  for  flowers,  candy,  theaters,  and 
other  luxuries  for  their  best  girls;  people  who  give 
rich  dinners  and  decorate  their  homes  lavishly  for 
entertainments;  all  who  buy  things  to-day  that  they 
can  do  without,  are  allies  of  the  Kaiser."    For,  surely, 


SAVING  73 

if  the  soldier  at  the  front  is  required  to  lay  aside  all 
unnecessary  impedimenta,  it  is  but  fair  that  those  who 
remain  at  home  should,  likewise,  unload  all  that  is  not 
really  requisite. 

Stopping  Leaks,  Yet  Opening  Others.  Is  it  not 
strange,  then,  that  while  a  nation  thus  sets  itself  to 
stop  leakage  at  some  points,  it  permits  much  of  the 
salvage  from  this  source  to  seep  away  uselessly  at 
other  points  ?  While  insisting  on  wheatless  and  meat- 
less meals,  why  raise  extra  funds  to  melt  away  in 
"  smoke  "  ?  Internal  Revenue  Department  returns 
show  that  the  number  of  cigars  consumed  in  the  United 
States  within  a  period  of  twelve  months  increased  by 
about  a  billion,  reaching  the  enormous  total  of  9,216,- 
901,113,  being  an  average  of  90  for  every  inhabitant, 
man,  woman,  and  child.  The  number  of  cigarets  con- 
sumed within  the  same  year  increased  more  than  forty 
per  cent,  totaling  30,529,193,338.  Even  w^re  there 
no  physical  injury  involved,  can  the  expenditure 
annually  of  a  billion  dollars  for  tobacco,  with  no  bene- 
fit to  show  for  it,  be  regarded  as  other  than  wanton 
waste  ?  The  indictment  against  the  nation  on  account 
of  the  drink  traffic  is  still  more  serious,  both  because 
the  damage  done  is  even  greater  and  because  the  gov- 
ernment profits  directly  from  the  business.  While  the 
German  submarines  sunk  8,000,000  bushels  of  grain, 
the  American  brewers  sunk  68,000,000  bushels,  be- 
sides 64,000,000  pounds  of  sugar,  in  manufacturing 
beer.  While  householders  were  unable  to  get  coal  at 
any  price  and  ordinary  business  was  suspended  for 


74  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

want  of  heat,  the  breweries  used  3,000,000  tons  of 
coal  to  run  their  plants  and  3,000,000  more  for  trans- 
porting their  product.  They  absorbed  the  labor  of 
65,000  men,  who  were  needed  in  ship-building  and 
other  industries  essential  to  winning  the  war.  The 
annual  drink  bill  of  the  country  the  year  before  the 
war  was  $2,400,000,000,  which  was  enough  to  take 
up  the  First  Liberty  Loan  and  pay  the  whole  cost  of 
the  Panama  Canal  in  addition. 

For  the  most  part,  the  American  people,  in  the 
United  States  as  well  as  in  Canada,  have  responded 
nobly  to  the  call  to  save.  Of  the  readers  of  a  popular 
periodical,  residents  in  every  section,  to  whom  was  put 
the  question  early  in  the  war  whether  the  people  in 
their  neighborhood  were  economizing,  385  answered 
"  Yes,"  while  only  80  answered  "  No."  To  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  Second  Liberty  Loan  issue  had  been 
willingly  taken  by  the  smaller  investors  and  wage- 
earners,  399  answered  ''  Yes,"  only  67  "  No."  To  the 
question  whether  the  burden  of  increased  taxation  is 
willingly  borne  or  whether  a  larger  part  of  the  war 
burden  should  be  put  upon  posterity,  only  58  would 
shift  any  of  the  load,  while  398  approved  of  the 
present  provision.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  de- 
clares, however,  that  *'  the  American  people  are  not 
sufficiently  aroused  even  yet  to  the  necessity  of 
economy  and  saving.  What  is  of  superlative  impor- 
tance is  that  our  people  shall  be  impressed  with  the 
necessity  of  economizing  in  the  consumption  of  articles 
of  clothing,  food,  and  fuel,  and  of  everything  which 


SAVING  75 

constitutes  a  drain  upon  the  available  supplies,  ma- 
terials, and  resources  of  the  country.  To  waste  any- 
thing now  is  little  short  of  criminal." 

The  inevitable  result  of  nation-wide  saving  is  seen 
in  unprecedented  accumulation  of  money,  in  spite  of 
the  greatly  increased  cost  of  living.  Not  only  have 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  been  turned  into  phil- 
anthropic war  funds  and  billions  have  been  invested 
in  the  safest  of  savings  through  the  Victory  and 
Liberty  Loans,  but  at  the  same  time,  out  of  the  same 
reservoir,  contributions  through  church  channels  have 
continued  to  come  in  greater  volume  than  before.  If 
the  cause  be  sought,  probably,  it  is  not  that  so  much 
more  money  is  being  made  but  that  so  much  is  being 
saved. 

Peace  Has  Claims.  What  is  gained  through  sheer 
stress  of  war  should  be  conserved  permanently  in  times 
of  peace.  Are  not  the  ever-present  needs  involved  in 
the  greater  war  with  ignorance  and  poverty  and  crime 
quite  as  real  and  pressing  as  those  we  are  facing,  for 
the  time  being,  by  reason  of  our  struggle  with  the 
Central  Powers  of  Europe  ?  Improvidence  is  the  pro- 
lific parent  of  poverty.  Wastefulness  is  always  weak- 
ness. Economy  and  thrift  are  allies  of  the  larger  life. 
The  simple  life  should  be  our  normal  state.  Having 
learned  to  save,  we  must  not  go  back  to  wasting  in 
selfish  indulgence,  when  the  need  for  war  funds  has 
passed.  If,  when  that  time  comes,  the  present  rising 
tide  of  liberality  which  has  been  made  possible  by  sav- 
ing is  not  turned  largely  into  church  channels  for  the 


76  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

purposes  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  it  will  flow  back 
again  in  an  overwhelming  flood  of  self-indulgence. 
What  was  done  to  protect  the  city  of  Galveston  against 
a  recurrence  of  the  disaster  of  a  tidal  wave,  Christian 
statesmanship  is  called  upon  now  to  do  for  all 
Christendom.  A  sea-wall  must  be  built  to  hold  in 
check  the  waves  of  materialism.  Stewardship  is  the 
effective  measure  which  will  serve  the  purpose  of  the 
present  momentous  hour.  Men  must  be  taught  to 
save,  not  for  themselves  but  for  ministering  in  behalf 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  a  world  of  appalling  need 
and  of  challenging  opportunity.  The  world's  wealth 
must  be  developed  and  stored,  that  it  may  be  utilized 
for  carrying  out  the  program  of  Christ  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  all  life. 

Start  with  Childhood.  To  this  end,  the  process 
of  saving  should  start  in  earliest  childhood.  As  soon 
as  one  commences  to  receive  or  earn,  he  should  begin 
to  save.  Fortunate  is  the  child  who  learns  the  cost 
as  well  as  the  use  of  money.  Along  with  the  sense 
of  possession  should  be  developed  the  instinct  of  provi- 
dence together  with  that  of  generosity.  The  first 
quarter  of  a  dollar  which  I  earned — by  shouting  over 
the  top  of  a  tree — after  being  stowed  away  in  the 
capacious  pocket  of  my  first  pair  of  trousers,  would 
probably  have  soon  disappeared  with  nothing  to  re- 
member it  by,  save  an  aching  void  somewhere,  had 
my  benevolent  uncle  not  filled  the  role  of  a  wise  big 
brother.  To  the  quarter  which  he  paid  me  he  added 
the  sagacious  advice — indeed,   the  condition — that  I 


SAVING  Tj 

put  it  in  the  bank.  Not  every  boy  could  open  a  bank 
account  with  twenty  five  cents,  but  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  have  another  relative  who  was  cashier  of  a 
bank  in  my  home  town.  So,  on  returning  to  my  home, 
I  lost  no  time  in  making  my  way  to  the  bank,  where 
I  laid  the  shining  silver  on  the  counter  and  forthwith 
rose  to  the  dignity  of  a  depositor.  I  had  become  a 
capitalist,  and  the  sense  of  importance  which  my  bank- 
book brought  was  worth  many  times  the  amount 
credited  to  my  account.  Even  if  the  annual  interest 
on  my  first  saving  was  only  one  cent — since  '"  Uncle 
Sam  "  had  failed  to  provide  a  coin  small  enough  to 
cover  the  additional  fraction — I  look  back  now  on  that 
fund  as  to  the  day  of  small  things  which  the  Scrip- 
tures explicitly  warn  us  not  to  despise. 

Begin  Early  to  Save.  The  time  to  begin  to  save 
is  in  youth,  because  expenses  are  less  then  than  later 
in  life.  The  earlier  savings  are  put  into  life  insurance, 
too,  the  lower  the  rate.  The  same  $i,ooo  policy  which, 
taken  at  i8  years  of  age,  cost  $15  a  year,  will  cost  50 
per  cent,  more  if  not  taken  until  the  age  of  35,  while 
at  45  it  will  cost  100  per  cent.  more.  There  will  be 
more  time  for  interest  to  accrue  on  savings  if  invested 
in  youth.  Each  $100  invested  at  4  per  cent,  when  20 
years  of  age,  will  have  earned  $480.10  by  the  time 
sixty  years  is  reached;  if  invested  ten  years  later,  it 
will  have  earned  $324.34;  if  twenty  years  later, 
$219.11.  If  the  average  young  worker  will  save  10 
per  cent,  of  what  he  earns  from  the  time  he  begins 
tmtil  fifty  years  of  age,  and  will  put  it  in  a  savings 


78  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

bank,  by  that  time  his  savings  will  be  earning  more 
than  he  can  himself  earn  from  that  point  on. 

Most  important  of  all,  youth  is  the  time  to  earn, 
because  it  is  the  time  for  forming  habit,  the  time  when 
companions  are  chosen,  when  good  impulses  are  strong- 
est, when  ideals  are  highest.  It  is  the  mating  time,  too, 
and  the  time  to  begin  getting  a  nest  is  the  time  to  lay 
by  the  nest-egg. 

It  was  a  wise  provision  of  the  Jewish  race,  that 
each  lad  must  learn  a  trade,  whether  he  were  rich  or 
poor.  For  though  wealth  may  prove  to  be  a  bar — as 
in  the  case  of  the  rich  young  ruler — to  shut  one  out 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  yet  thrift  involves  no  such 
peril;  rather  is  it  a  source  of  independence  and  help- 
fulness.^ 

Benefits  of  Saving.  Undoubtedly  saving  of  the 
right  sort  is  of  great  bentfit  in  many  ways.  It  obviates 
waste,  it  conserves  forces,  it  prepares  for  meeting  the 
inevitable  demands  of  the  future;  but,  more  impor- 
tant than  conserving  any  amount  of  material  resources, 
is  the  effect  produced  upon  the  character  of  those  who 
save,  provided  the  motive  and  the  method  of  saving  is 
right. 

If  parents  accumulate  riches  to  bequeath  to  their 
families,  they  wrong  their  heirs  by  depriving  them  of 
the  very  development  of  character  which  comes 
through  earning  and  caring  for  and  using  their  posses- 
sions.    Accumulated  riches  not  uncommonly  prove  a 

^  Adapted  from  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks'  Significance  of  the  Teach- 
ings of  Jesus. 


SAVING  79 

curse,  as  was  the  case  with  the  manna  of  old,  breeding 
corruption,  if  kept. 

Ways  of  Saving.  There  are  safer  and  better  ways 
nowadays  than  the  broken  china  cup  on  the  cotter's 
mantle  or  the  old  stocking  or  the  mattress  or  the 
bureau  drawer.  The  bank,  with  its  incentive  of  the 
Christmas  saving  fund,  the  federal  post-office  savings 
department,  the  savings  department  in  connection  with 
the  public  schools,  the  war  savings  stamps  and  Victory 
and  Liberty  Loans  of  the  federal  governments — all 
these  help  to  extend  habits  of  saving  among  the 
masses.  Thrift  departments  in  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  serve  a  useful 
purpose;  whole  communities  are  being  systematically 
trained  to  save  through  agencies  such  as  these.  Life 
insurance  of  the  right  sort  is  one  of  the  very  best  ways 
of  laying  by  for  the  morrow.  Building  loan  associa- 
tions make  it  possible  for  many  a  family  of  limited 
means  to  secure  their  own  homes  within  a  series  of 
years.  The  compulsory  payments  thus  made  neces- 
sary serve  as  an  automatic  check  on  unnecessary  ex- 
penditure. The  reserve  thus  accumulated  affords  a 
sound  basis  for  domestic  comfort  and  happiness. 

Some  saving  is  losing;  it  is  putting  money  into  a 
bag  with  holes.  Unwise  investing  often  suddenly 
sweeps  away  what  has  been  accumulated,  it  may  be 
laboriously,  through  long  years.  It  is  estimated  that 
seventy-five  per  cent,  of  monies  received  from  life 
insurance  policies  is  dissipated  within  five  years.  The 
desire  to  secure  large  and  quick  returns  is  accountable 


8o  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

for  the  losing  of  much  money  through  speculative  in- 
vestment. Certainly  those  who  cannot  afford  to  write 
it  off  to  ''  profit  and  loss  "  should  never  put  their 
money  in  any  other  than  safe  securities,  approved  by 
those  qualified  to  advise.  Of  business  undertakings 
it  is  said  that  eighty-five  per  cent,  fail,  and  that  by 
reason  of  defects  of  character  in  those  who  conduct 
them. 

Objects  to  Save  For.  Among  legitimate  objects 
for  which  to  save,  are  these:  provision  for  further 
self-improvement;  for  marriage;  for  securing  a  home 
of  one's  own  and  for  enlarging  or  repairing  it;  pro- 
viding for  '*  a  rainy  day,"  against  possible  sickness  or 
other  extraordinary  need,  or  for  old  age;  for  capital 
to  start,  carry  on,  or  enlarge  one's  business ;  above  all, 
for  giving  to  relieve  the  wants  of  others,  benefit  the 
world,  and  extend  the  kingdom  of  righteousness  and 
peace  and  joy  through  all  the  earth. 

No  Premium  upon  Improvidence.  Our  Lord  puts 
no  premium  upon  improvidencie.  All  through  his 
teaching  he  lays  down  the  principle  of  obligation  to 
multiply  and  increase.  In  his  classic  story  of  the 
Talents  (Matt.  25.  14-30)  he  shows  that,  no  matter 
what  the  amount,  unless  it  be  increased  by  use,  it  will 
inevitably  be  forfeited.  There  is  no  place  in  all  God's 
economy  for  the  "  unprofitable."  Men  who  "  trade  " 
and  "  make,"  who  "  sow  "  and  '"  reap,"  "  strew  "  and 
*' gather,"  "put  out  money  to  the  exchangers"  and 
show  good  profits,  these  receive  honorable  mention 
from  our  Lord.     But  there  is  absolutely  no  use  for 


SAVING  8i 

those  who  show  no  result  (Matt.  25.  30).  The  seed 
cast  upon  the  earth  comes  back,  "  some  a  hundred- 
fold, some  sixty,  some  thirty"  (Matt.  13.23).  The 
mustard  seed  "is  less  than  all  seeds;  but  when  it  is 
grown,  it  is  greater  than  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree  " 
(Matt.  13.32). 

Jesus  insists,  too,  on  the  principle  of  conserving 
the  increase.  He  is  not  for  squandering  resources. 
Those  who  provide  no  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their 
lamps,  he  portrays  as  "  foolish,"  while  the  provident 
are  commended  as  "wise"  (Matt.  25.8).  They 
utterly  mistake  the  Master's  meaning  who  seek  to  show 
that  the  Christian  is  distrusting  God  when  he  takes  out 
an  insurance  policy  or  makes  provision  for  the  future. 
When  our  Lord  condemned  the  Foolish  Farmer  (Luke 
12.  20),  it  was  not  because  he  proposed  to  pull  down 
his  barns  and  build  greater;  it  was  not  because  he  in- 
tended to  lay  by  seed  for  next  season's  planting  and  an 
ample  food  supply — and  perhaps  more  besides — for  his 
family,  but  because  the  egotist  was  actually  planning 
to  bestow  in  his  new  barns  all  his  fruits  and  his  goods. 
No  wonder  that  for  him  that  very  day  was  the  day  of 
judgment.  "  So  is  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  for  him- 
self, and  is  not  rich  toward  God."  With  his  barns 
bulging  with  big  crops  here,  that  farmer  was  bankrupt 
for  the  hereafter.  No,  he  who  said,  "  Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,"  was  careful  to  add, 
"where  moth  and  rust  consume"  (Matt.  6.19). 
Moths  do  not  bother  things  that  are  being  worn,  nor 
do  razors  rust  when  in  constant  use.     Only  that  con- 


82  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

sumes  which  is  hoarded,  heaped  up,  and  kept  idle,  not 
doing  the  purpose  of  Providence  nor  contributing  to 
the  welfare  of  men. 

Jesus  did  not  mean  that  men  should  *'  take  no 
thought  for  the  morrow "  ^  when  he  insisted,  that, 
with  such  a  Father  as  we  have  in  heaven  there  is  not 
the  slightest  excuse  for  anxious  worrying  about  the 
unknown  to-morrow;  the  latter  is  very  different  from 
exercising  prudent  foresight  and  anticipating  needs 
which  are  sure  to  come.  Even  the  birds,  to  whom  our 
Lord  refers  us  as  examples,  teach  us  to  be  provident. 
Jesus  clearly  points  out  what  a  man's  relation  should 
be  to  "things"  (Luke  12.  15).  "A  man's  life  con- 
sisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he 
possesseth  ";  yet  the  "  Father  knows  "  quite  well,  how 
essential  things  are  to  earth  dwellers  (v.  30) ;  men, 
however,  must  get  their  minds  clear  as  to  ''  whose  " 
these  things  shall  be  (v.  20) ;  and,  if  held  and  used  in 
right  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  all  things  that 
are  really  needed  will  be  ''  added."  Hence,  hoarding 
is  the  height  of  foolishness;  all  such  saving  is  but 
wasting. 

Possible  Peril  in  Saving.  But,  necessary  as  it  is 
to  be  provident,  there  is  need  to  be  ever  on  guard 
against  the  subtle  temptation  which  may  accompany 
the  saving  of  money.  To  save  money  merely  for  the 
sake  of  saving  it,  cannot  but  be  dwarfing  in  its  effect. 
For  money  is  not  value  in  itself,  but  merely  a  measure 

^  The  quotations  in  this  paragraph  are  from  the  Authorized 
Version. 


SAVING  83 

of  value  of  that  which  can  be  obtained  from  its  use. 
Unused,  money  is  utterly  useless,  and  indeed  it  may 
be  worse  than  useless;  it  may  be  a  positive  injury. 
No  swimmer  can  stay  under  water  long  and  live. 
What  holding  the  breath  is  to  inhalation  and  exhala- 
tion in  the  respiratory  system  saving  is  to  earning  and 
spending  in  the  economic  system.  It  may  be  wise, 
indeed  necessary,  at  times  to  hold  one's  breath,  but  to 
hold  it  too  long  is  fatal.  So  it  is  with  saving.  To 
save  for  the  sake  of  saving  is  hoarding.  That  process 
makes  the  miser — and  misery.  Saving  atrophies  the 
soul  of  him  who  saves  that  which  should  be  spent  or 
given. 

Jesus  warned  against  the  "  deceitfulness  of  riches  " 
choking  the  word  of  truth  (Mark  4.  19).  He  shows 
how  hard  it  is  for  them  *'  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God"  (Mark  10.24).  He  pro- 
nounced "  woe  "  upon  the  rich :  ^'  Woe  unto  you  that 
are  rich !  for  ye  have  received  your  consolation " 
(Luke  6.24).  He  gathered  up  his  teaching  on  this 
subject  in  his  interview  with  the  Rich  Young  Ruler 
(Mark  10)  and  in  the  story  of  the  Foolish  Farmer 
(Luke  12). 

Is  Saving  Doubting  God's  Providence?  There 
is  a  danger  of  being  so  provident  for  oneself  as 
to  lose  sight  of  the  promise  of  divine  providence. 
"  To  many  people  thrift  is  a  virtue  because  it  implies 
self-control  in  the  present  and  foresight  for  the  future. 
But,  if  Jesus  had  substituted  a  bank  balance  for  the 
Father's  care,  his  teaching  would  have  excluded  nine 


84  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

out  of  ten  wage-earners.  He  was  against  laying  up 
treasure  on  earth,  because  he  realized  that  all  prop- 
erty is  liable,  first,  to  moth  and  rust,  by  which  is 
meant  the  depreciation  that  results  inevitably  from 
postponed  use ;  and  second,  to  theft  with  violence  like 
war.  We  read,  too,  of  the  farmer  whose  barns  were 
full,  but  who  did  not  sow  his  surplus  corn  or  sell  it 
for  bread,  so  as  to  relieve  the  market,  but  pulled  down 
his  barns,  which  was  a  waste  of  property,  in  order  to 
build  greater,  which  was  a  waste  of  works;  yet  over- 
looked his  own  health.  The  financier  was  a  fool, 
because  he  thought  only  of  his  assets,  forgetting  his 
liabilities,  which  included  a  mortgage  on  his  soul  due 
to  a  sleepless  Creditor,  who  foreclosed  that  very  night 
after  business  hours.  Wealth  unspent  made  the  man 
a  miser."  ^ 

Saving  Which  Is  Robbery.  There  is  a  form  of 
enforced  saving  practised  by  many  churches  at  the 
expense  of  the  ministers;  it  is  by  delaying  payment  of 
salary,  thus  compelling  the  pastor  to  carry  the  interest 
on  his  own  back-pay.  Thus  the  pastor  is  made  a 
sort  of  loan  office,  forced  to  become  a  money-lender 
to  his  parishioners,  advancing  his  salary  without  in- 
terest for  longer  or  shorter  periods.  Such  ''  saving  '* 
on  the  part  of  a  Christian  church  is  'execrably  un- 
christian. It  calls  for  just  such  sternly  outspoken 
denunciation  as  James  administered  to  the  men  of 
his  own  day;  "  Behold,  the  hire  of  the  laborers  .  .  . 
which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth  out:  and 

^  P.  Whitwell  Wilson,  The  Christ  We  Forget. 


SAVING  85 

the  cries  of  them  that  reaped  are  entered  into  the  ears 
of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth  "  (James  5.  4). 

Is  It  Right  to  Be  Rich?  The  question  whether  a 
Christian  has  a  right  to  be  rich,  involves  all  stages  of 
a  man's  relation  to  money — the  acquiring,  the  saving, 
and  the  using  of  it;  possibly,  however,  it  is  involved 
most  in  saving,  for  no  matter  how  much  a  man  makes, 
if  it  goes  as  quickly  as  it  comes^  he  never  can  be  rich. 

To  be  sure,  "  riches "  is  a  relative  term  varying 
according  to  conditions  of  time  and  place.  In  the 
United  States,  in  191 7,  there  were  as  many  as  ten 
incomes  of  as  much  as  five  million  dollars;  nine  of 
four  million;  fourteen  of  three  million;  thirty-four  of 
two  million.  In  Great  Britain  there  were  even  more 
of  these  vast  incomes — seventy-nine  of  as  much  as  five 
million  dollars  and  sixty-eight  of  four  million,  al- 
though further  down  the  scale  the  numbers  were  not 
so  large  over  there  as  on  this  side. 

It  is  significant  indeed,  to  hear  one  of  these  same 
American  millionaires,  himself  connected  with  great 
corporations,  express  himself  thus: 

"  We  are  beyond  question  entering  on  a  period  where  the 
welfare  of  the  community  takes  precedence  over  the  interests 
of  the  individual,  and  where  the  liberty  of  the  individual  will 
be  more  and  more  circumscribed  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole.  Our  only  decoration — the  almighty  dollar — 
is  not  as  highly  prized  as  it  used  to  be.  The  man  of  excep- 
tional ability,  of  more  than  ordinary  talent,  will  hereafter  look 
for  his  rewards,  for  his  honors,  not  in  one  direction,  but  in 
two:  first  and  foremost,  in  some  public  work  accomplished,  and 
only  secondarily,  in  wealth  acquired.  In  my  judgment,  the 
fashion  of  acquiring  wealth  simply  for  the  sake  of  possessing 


86  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

it  has  about  reached  its  greatest  height,  and  the  fashion  of  per- 
forming public  service  for  the  sake  of  its  performance  is  coming 
into  vogue.  If  I  am  right,  then  the  problem  of  the  man  of  the 
future  is  not  how  he  can  acquire  a  very  large  personal  fortune, 
but  how  he  can  acquire  a  competency  and  at  the  same  time  fit 
himself  to  be  an  all-round  citizen  and  render  some  worth-while 
public  service. 

"  The  period  that  is  upon  us  offers  large  opportunities  for  in- 
dividual thought,  initiative,  and  action.  It  calls  for  original 
thinking,  for  constructive  work,  for  clean,  healthy  bodies;  and 
staunch  courage  will  find  a  myriad  of  opportunities  in  the  great 
new  period  upon  which  we  are  just  entering  and  which  carries 
so  much  promise  for  humanity. 

"A  reconstructive  period  is  at  hand.  It  is  not  simply  local, 
nor  is  it  merely  national;  it  is  international,  world-wide.  The 
mighty  changes  that  are  taking  place  in  Europe  tell  us  this 
with  unmistakable  voices.  The  man  of  the  future  must  reahze 
all  this.  He  must  be  ready  to  adjust  himself  to  the  new  con- 
ditions that  are  crowding  upon  us. 

"The  only  justification  for  large  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the 
few  is  its  use  for  service  to  society.  It  need  not  necessarily 
all  be  given  away,  but  it  must  be  used  generously.  If  fairly 
won  by  work  and  care,  its  very  accumulation,  giving  fair  and 
honest  employment  to  others,  should  be  regarded  as  a  reward 
for  a  service  to  society,  and  so  be  regulated  by  a  high  ideal. 
The  Christian's  wealth  is  held  only  as  a  trust,  a  means  of 
service  to  others,  and  like  all  the  work  given  us  to  do  and  the 
trusts  given  us  to  keep,  it  is  a  means,  precarious  indeed,  as 
Jesus  so  unmistakably  taught,  but  still,  if  wisely,  humbly, 
thoughtfully  employed,  a  means  of  character  development."  ^ 

The  Problem  of  Excessive  Riches.  Not  by  laying 
violent  hands  upon  what  men  by  their  ability  and  in- 
dustry have  accumulated,  but  by  applying  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  as  to  the  using  as  well  as  the  acquiring 
and  conserving  of  property  in  the  interest  of  the  king- 

*  George  W.   Perkins,   in   an   after-dinner   speech. 


SAVING  87 

dom  of  God  on  earth,  shall  the  better  day  be  ushered 
in.  If  men  but  give  of  their  money  as  Jesus  enjoins, 
the  same  solution  of  social  problems  will  be  continually 
resulting  as  was  provided  for  by  the  redistribution  of 
property  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  under  the  old  Hebrew 
law  of  land  tenure.  Men  should  be  enjoined  to  em- 
ploy their  powers  to  the  full ;  to  conserve  carefully  the 
results  of  their  labor ;  but,  always,  with  a  view  to  put- 
ting them  to  the  largest  possible  use.  For,  as  a  man 
safeguards  saving  by  using  continually  and  to  the  best 
possible  advantage,  he  determines  whether  in  the 
process  he  is  himself  becoming  a  fruitful  conserver 
or  a  blighting  miser. 


POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

IV.  Saving 

Aim  :  To  show  that,  in  the  saving  of  money,  it  is  the  practise  of 

stewardship  which  makes  the  difference  in  the  outcome 

between  a  conserver  and  a  miser. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

Show  how  the  war  has  been  teaching  economy  in  a  new  way 
to  entire  nations. 

How  may  what  is  saved  in  some  ways  be  lost  in  others? 

How  can  the  lessons  in  saving  be  applied  to  advance  the  king- 
dom of  God? 

Why  should  we  start  a  child  saving  as  soon  as  he  has  money? 

What  benefits  will  accrue? 

What  are  the  best  ways  to  save? 

For  what  objects  is  one  justified  in  saving? 


88  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

To  what  extent  is  laying  up  for  the  future  consistent  with 
trust  in  the  Father's  care? 

What  considerations  should  control  in  the  bequeathing  of 
property  ? 

What  does  my  experience  suggest  for  the  guidance  of  others? 

What  is  Jesus'  attitude  toward  saving? 

Show  whether  or  not  it  is  right  to  be  rich,  and  to  what 
extent. 

How  shall  we  safeguard  against  the  dangers  involved? 

Problems  from  Life 

I.  A  Pennsylvania  woman  gives  this  experience : 

"When  fourteen  years  old  and  working  for  $2  a  week,  I 
began  to  save  systematically.  Half  of  my  weekly  allowance  of 
10  cents  was  devoted  to  the  church  contribution,  and  I  de- 
termined never  to  spend  the  last  cent  of  my  own  5  except  for 
something  absolutely  necessary.  The  old  purse  which  held 
those  last  cents  filled  slowly.  When  my  allowance  was  increased 
to  25  cents  a  week,  any  of  the  12  retained  for  myself  remain- 
ing on  Saturday  night  went  with  the  last  one  and  I  began 
each  week  afresh.  When  I  had  50  cents  a  week,  I  resolved 
never  to  break  my  last  nickel,  except  in  an  emergency,  and  the 
purse  filled  faster.  On  an  allowance  of  $1,  I  bought  a  dime- 
bank,  and  a  dime  in  it  each  pay-day  gave  me  $5  at  the  end 
of  the  year  to  put  in  the  savings-bank.  A  tin  box  received 
odd  new  coins,  and  another  held  small  change  left  over  when 
I  bought  something  for  a  little  less  than  I  expected;  and  these 
two  added  about  $5  a  year  more  to  my  account.  When  I  began 
to  manage  all  my  earnings  myself,  I  made  the  last  dollar  the 
unit  which  must  not  be  broken,  and  as  soon  as  circumstances  per- 
mitted I  took  shares  in  a  building  association  and  increased 
them  from  time  to  time.  I  have  not  grown  wealthy,  but  on  a 
working  woman's  wages,  with  family  responsibilities  and  much 
sickness,  I  have  laid  by  a  comfortable  sum  for  my  old  age." 

In  what  respects  can  you  improve  on  this  plan? 

II.  In  a  church  on  the  Pacific  Coast  one  Sunday,  after  I  had 
spoken,  an  elderly  woman  came  up  to  speak  to  me  and  slipped 
into  my  hand  a  $100  bill  which  she  wished  to  have  go  to  a 


SAVING  89 

mission  school  in  Persia.  The  silk  dress  she  wore  had  once 
been  black,  but  now  was  a  rusty  brown.  The  people  of  the 
church  regarded  her  as  a  pauper.  Imagine  my  surprise,  then, 
when,  on  meeting  me  by  appointment  next  day,  she  informed  me 
that  she  had  $1,000  in  the  bank,  to  add  to  the  $100  which  she  had 
handed  me  the  day  before.  And  a  little  later,  when  her  confi- 
dence had  increased,  she  proposed  to  turn  over  city  house  prop- 
erty valued  at  $10,000.  She  wished  it  all  to  go  to  the  school  in 
Persia.  Then  I  found  that  the  beginning  of  her  interest  dated 
back  more  than  a  half  century  to  a  New  England  Sunday- 
school  class  of  v/hich  the  teacher  was  Fidelia  Fiske,  founder  of 
the  Girls'  School  in  Urumiah,  Persia.  Through  long  years  of 
loneliness  and  privation,  the  Sunday-school  scholar  had  saved, 
and  now  wished  to  apply  what  was  in  fact  nearly  all  of  her 
possessions,  long  stored  up,  to  perpetuate  the  life-work  of  the 
guide,  philosopher,  and  friend  of  her  girlhood  days.  But  she 
had  stinted  herself  more  than  was  wholesome.  I  found  that 
she  was  occupying  cramped,  ill-furnished  quarters.  The  dust 
was  so  thick  on  the  chair  that  it  was  necessary  to  spread  out  a 
newspaper  before  sitting  down. 

What  was  wrong  with  this  woman's  conception  of  saving,  and 
how  would  you  have  managed  it  differently? 


V; 

GIVING 

"Give,  not  from  the  top  of  your  purse,  but  from  the  bottom 
of  your  heart." 


Remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  he  himself  said, 
It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive  (Acts  20.  35). 

God  so  loved  .   .   .  that  he  gave  (John  3. 16). 

God  ioveth  a  cheerful  [gleeful]  giver  (2  Cor.  9.7)- 

He  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it  with  liberahty  (Rom.  12.8). 

He  sat  down  over  against  the  treasury,  and  beheld  how  the 
multitude  cast  money  into  the  treasury  (Mark  12.41). 

He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor  lendeth  unto  Jehovah,  and  his 
good  deed  will  he  pay  him  again  (Prov.  19. 17). 

Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you;  good  measure,  pressed 
down,  shaken  together,  running  over,  shall  they  give  into  your 
bosom  (Luke  6.38). 


V 
GIVING 

Giving,  a  Trait  of  God.  God  is  the  great  Giver. 
He  never  buys  nor  sells,  but  he  gives  unceasingly.  It 
is  of  the  very  essence  of  his  nature  to  give,  and  the 
more  he  gives  the  richer  he  is. 

"  He  himself  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all 
things''  (Acts  17.25).  '*  He  .  .  .  gave  you  from 
heaven  rains  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  your  hearts 
with  food  and  gladness"  (Acts  14.  17).  "It  is  he 
that  giveth  thee  power  to  get  wealth"  (Deut.  8.  18). 
"  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten son  "  (John  3.  16).  "  And  he  that  spared  not 
his  own  son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall 
he  not  also  with  him  freely  give  us  all  things  (Rom. 
8.32)?"  "God  .  .  .  giveth  us  richly  all  things  to 
enjoy"  (i  Tim.  6.  17). 

We  have  no  instrument  of  precision  sufficiently 
accurate  to  measure  God's  capacity  for  giving. 
The  nearest  approach  to  an  analysis  is  in  the  table  of 
cubic  measure  outlined  in  the  sixteenth  verse  of  the 
third  chapter  of  the  Gospel  according  to  John : 

Its  Height:  the  source,  the  motive,  of  all  true  giving 
is  Love — "  For  God  so  loved  that  he  gave." 

93 


94  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Its  Depth:  the  test  of  all  true  giving  is  its  Cost — 
*'  He  gave  his  only  begotten  Son/' 

Its  Breadth:  the  scope  of  all  true  giving  is  the 
World — ''  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  .    .    .   Son." 

Its  Length:  the  end  and  outcome  of  all  true  giving 
is  Life — "  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
..  .  .  have  everlasting  Life." 

Here  is  the  divine  standard  of  all  true  giving.  If 
any  of  the  four  dimensions  be  lacking,  it  is  not  giving 
like  unto  God's;  indeed  it  is  not  true  giving  at  all. 

Not  a  Method  of  Raising  Money  but  Men.  God 
has  no  need  of  gifts  from  man ;  in  fact  it  is  impossible 
for  man  to  give  to  God  except  only  indirectly  in  min- 
istering to  the  needs  of  his  children.  "  All  that  is  in 
the  heavens  and  in  the  earth  is  thine ;  all  things  come 
of  thee"  (i  Chron.  29.  11-14).  Giving  is  not  for 
God's  benefit  but  for  our  own.  As  Paul  explained  to 
the  agnostics  of  Athens,  "  The  God  that  made  the 
world  and  all  things  therein,  he,  being  Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  sanctuaries  (margin)  made 
with  hands;  neither  is  he  served  by  men's  hands,  as 
though  he  needed  anything,  seeing  he  himself  giveth  to 
all  life,  and  breath,  and  all  things  "  (Acts  17.  24,  25). 

"  My  father  is  rich  in  houses  and  lands ; 
He  holdeth  the  wealth  of  the  world  in  his  hands; 
Of  rubies  and  diamonds,  of  silver  and  gold, 
His  coffers  are  full,  he  hath  riches  untold." 

Only  a  little  while  ago,  prospectors  in  Colorado 
opened  a  pocket  of  solid  silver  valued  at  several  million 


GIVING  95 

dollars.  God  has  many  more  such  deposits  stowed 
away  in  unsuspected  vaults  all  over  the  earth.  Any 
day  he  could  turn  into  the  treasuries  of  his  Kingdom 
a  stream  of  wealth  which  would  overflow  the  coffers. 
It  were  easier  far  for  God  to  tap  these  reserve  funds 
of  his  and  finance  the  church,  with  its  entire  mission- 
ary enterprise,  without  delay  than  to  overcome  the 
stinginess  of  those  who  bear  his  name.  But  God  knows 
that  the  only  way  to  make  his  people  like  himself  is  to 
develop  in  them  his  own  unselfishness.  With  mar- 
velous patience,  therefore,  he  waits  until  we,  too,  learn 
to  give.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  he  gives  so  impor- 
tant a  place  to  stewardship,  as  the  primary  process  of 
transforming  men  into  his  likeness.  Stewardship  is 
not  a  mere  method  of  raising  money,  it  is  one  of  God's 
schools  for  raising  men. 

The  Giver  Transformed.  In  this  process,  giving  is 
made  an  acid  test  of  character.  Of  all  the  graces,  giv- 
ing is  that  which  is  "  likest  God  within  the  soul.'* 
How  is  it  possible  to  be  truly  godlike  without  learning 
to  give  like  God,  who  is  always  giving?  What  better 
evidence  could  there  be  of  genuine  Christlike  living 
than  that  of  generous  godlike  giving?  What  wonder, 
then,  that  God  has  taken  such  infinite  pains  to  develop 
in  man  ''  this  grace  also  *'  ?  In  bringing  up  his  human 
family,  knowing  so  well  what  is  in  man,  the  Father  has 
provided,  in  the  grace  of  giving,  a  divine  antidote  for 
human  selfishness.  Only  the  spirit  of  God  can  eradi- 
cate this  root-sin  and  make  to  grow  in  human  hearts 
the  love  which  "  buds  into  beneficence."     This  takes 


96  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

time.  Babies  are  born  into  the  world  with  hands  tight 
closed;  in  many  cases  it  takes  a  lifetime  to  get  them 
to  stay  open;  in  some  cases  life  seems  too  short  to 
learn  the  lesson  of  the  open  hand.     Lowell  declares : 

"  He  is  dead  whose  hand  is  not  open  wide 
To  help  the  need  of  a  human  brother ; 
He  doubles  the  length  of  his  lifelong  ride 
Who  gives  his  fortunate  place  to  another ; 
And  a  thousand  million  lives  are  his 
Who  carries  the  world  in  his  sympathies — 
To  give  is  to  live." 

There  are  two  types  of  life:  the  self-centered  and 
the  Christ-centered;  the  former  is  essentially  selfish 
and  grasping,  the  latter  self-denying  and  giving.  A 
man  becomes  assimilated  to  the  object  he  worships. 
And  since  worship  is  essentially  the  recognition  of 
God's  sovereignty  and  ownership  of  all,  it  is  most 
fitting  that  giving  should  have  been  ordained  to  be  an 
integral  part  of  the  worship  of  God. 

The  Acid  Test.  Hence,  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
question  of  man's  relation  to  money  has  been  made 
the  acid  test  at  each  successive  stage  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  people  of  God,  from  the  Exodus  onward. 
A  conspicuous  public  example  was  given  in  the  case 
of  Achan  (Josh.  7.  1-18),  as  Israel  was  about  to  enter 
on  its  national  life.  Again,  on  the  threshold  of  the 
history  of  the  Christian  church  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
stand  as  fearful  warnings  for  all  time  to  come  against 
the  sin  of  covetousness  (Acts  5.  i-ii). 

In  the  church  of  to-day  there  is  all  too  much  of  that 


GIVING  97 

sickly  sentimentality  which  harps  upon  '"  the  freedom 
of  the  gospel."  In  every  congregation  there  is  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  hangers-on  who  sponge  upon 
others  for  their  religious  privileges.  They  are  reli- 
gious paupers  who  make  the  church  serve  as  their 
spiritual  poorhouse.  If  they  contribute  at  all  to  its 
support,  it  is  only  an  occasional  dole  for  the  sake  of 
keeping  up  appearance  of  respectability  when  the  plate 
is  passed.  They  are  near  relatives  to  the  old  deacon 
who  declared,  *^  Thank  God,  the  gospel  is  free;  I've 
been  a  church-member  for  forty  years,  and  it  hasn't 
cost  me  a  cent."  Fortunately  the  introduction  of  the 
Every  Member  Plan  is  compelling  some  of  these 
slackers  to  come  out  of  hiding. 

"Again  a  Nev^  Commandment."  A  matter  of 
such  momentous  consequence  as  the  Father's  plan  of 
training  his  children  in  the  grace  of  giving  could  not 
be  left  to  human  caprice.  It  has  been  made  a  required 
branch  of  study  in  the  school  of  Christ.  While  giving 
is  a  grace  and  a  joyous  privilege,  it  is,  likewise,  a  duty 
incumbent  on  every  subject  of  the  Kingdom.  That 
were  an  emasculated  type  of  Christian  life  which 
would  treat  obligations  under  the  gospel  as  less  bind- 
ing than  those  of  the  law.  Our  Lord  made  it  unmis- 
takably plain  that  he  did  not  come  to  subtract  anything 
from  the  law  but  to  fulfil  it.  There  is  a  decalog  of 
the  New  Testament  as  well  as  of  the  Old.  And  the 
New  goes  a  degree  beyond  the  Old  at  every  point. 
The  eighth  command,  '*  Thou  shalt  not  steal "  (Ex. 
20.15),  becomes  in  the  New,  "Freely  ye  received, 


98  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

freely  give"  (Matt.  lo.  8).  What  is  negative  in  the 
Old  becomes  positive  in  the  New,  coupled  with  abound- 
ing blessing:  "Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you; 
good  measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  running 
over,  shall  men  give  into  your  bosom"  (Luke  6.  38). 
In  the  great  manifesto  of  the  Kingdom,  after  portray- 
ing the  "  blessed  "  new  man  (Matt.  5.  1-16)  and  out- 
lining the  new  law  (Matt.  5.  17-48),  the  King,  when 
he  comes  to  indicate  the  essentials  of  the  new  life,  sets 
giving  and  praying  as  the  twin  pillars  of  the  strait 
gate  (Matt.  7.  13).  And  he  puts  giving  even  before 
praying  for  the  self-evident  reason  that  no  one  can 
consistently  pray  who  is  not  willing  also  to  pay. 
Obligation  grows  ever  larger  and  more  compelling 
under  the  gospel.  In  the  new  life  there  is  the  pro- 
pulsive as  well  as  expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection. 
To  quote  Bishop  Moule: 

"The  ransom  which  releases  also  purchases;  the  Lord's 
freeman  is  the  Lord's  property.  The  liberty  of  the  gospel  is  the 
silver  side  of  the  same  shield  whose  side  of  gold  is  an  uncondi- 
tional vassalage  to  the  liberating  Lord.  .  .  .  To  be  a  bond- 
servant is  terrible  in  the  abstract;  to  be  'Jesus  Christ's  bond- 
servant '  is  paradise  in  the  concrete.  Self-surrender  taken  alone 
is  a  plunge  into  a  cold  void;  when  it  is  surrender  to  'the  Son 
of  God  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for  me'  (Gal.  2.20), 
it  is  the  bright  home-coming  of  the  soul  to  the  seat  and  sphere 
of  life  and  power." 

Not  Merit-Making.  Much  that  is  called  giving  is 
not  really  giving  at  all.  What  is  parted  with  for  the 
purpose  of  acquiring  merit  is  not  giving.  A  large 
branch  of  the  church,  claiming  exclusive  right  to  repre- 


GIVING  99 

sent  Christ  on  earth,  carries  on  a  vast  trade  in  in- 
dulgences, with  a  graduated  scale  of  minimum  prices 
for  various  religious  privileges;  births,  baptisms,  mar- 
riages, funerals,  masses — all  are  tagged  with  a  price- 
mark.  Essentially  the  same  practise  prevails  in  non- 
Christian  countries,  though  in  a  somewhat  different 
form.  In  India  a  man  "  makes  merit "  by  erecting  by 
the  roadside  a  stone  shelf,  supported  by  pillars,  of  a 
height  convenient  for  resting  the  burden  which  a  coolie 
carries  upon  his  head.  In  China  it  takes  the  form  of 
a  shelter,  with  a  seat  affording  protection 

"From  the  burning  of  the  noontide  heat 
And  the  burden  of  the  day." 

The  building  of  a  bridge  or  a  road  is  supposed  to  bring 
a  double  measure  of  merit,  because  the  benefit  is  shared 
by  so  many.  Elsewhere  the  form  may  vary,  but  the 
motive  is  the  same.  None  of  this  can  be  counted  as 
giving.  What  is  contributed  under  compulsion  or 
without  free  will  to  give  cannot  be  regarded  as  a 
gift.  An  old  man  who  all  his  life  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  put  ''  pennies "  on  the  collection  plate,  at 
church  one  Sunday,  mistaking  a  gold  half -eagle  for  a 
bright  one-cent  piece,  put  it  on  the  plate.  On  discov- 
ering what  he  had  done,  he  went  next  morning  to  make 
recovery,  only  to  find  that  the  collection  had  already 
been  deposited  in  bank.  Then  he  consoled  himself  by 
saying,  "  Well,  I'll  get  credit  for  giving  $5  this  time, 
anyhow."  ''Not  at  all,"  was  the  reply;  '*  you'll  get 
credit  for  only  what  you  intended  to  give.'* 


lOO  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Not  Bequeathing.  What  is  bequeathed,  to  be  dis- 
tributed after  death,  is  that  to  be  regarded  as  given? 
There  may  be  conditions  in  which  it  is  wise  to  ac- 
cumulate and  withhold  until  one  has  gone,  having 
directed  by  a  last  will  and  testament  how  the  funds 
shall  be  applied.  Great  art  galleries  and  educational 
foundations  are  for  the  most  part  due  to  such  pro- 
visions.     But   such   cases   are    exceptional.      "  How 

much  did  Mr.  Blank  give  to  College  when  he 

died?  "  "  He  did  not  give  a  cent.  He  left  $50,000. 
He  could  not  help  leaving  it  behind,  for  he  could 
not  take  any  of  it  along." 

That  may  or  may  not  be  fair  to  Mr.  Blank,  for,  if 
the  bequest  came  out  of  his  capital,  it  was  needed  as 
long  as  he  could  do  business.  The  question  is  not 
whether  the  worker  may  keep  his  tools  as  long  as  he 
continues  to  work;  but  how  did  he  deal  with  his  in- 
come? Did  he,  while  still  acquiring,  set  apart  and 
give  away  a  worthy  portion  all  the  while?  If  not,  he 
defrauded  himself  as  well  as  others,  and  above  all  he 
disobeyed  and  dishonored  God.  Where  he  has  gone 
his  account  will  be  audited. 

Not  Self- Advertising.  Contributing  in  order  to 
advertise  oneself  is  not  giving.  Men  may  erect  li- 
braries and  art  galleries  and  even  church  buildings 
which  prove  an  inestimable  boon  to  multitudes  for  gen- 
erations, and  yet  not  have  really  given  at  all.  "  They 
have  received  their  reward,"  said  our  Lord,  but  it  is 
"  no  reward  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  "  (Matt. 
6.  i).     It  was  against  such  self-exploitation  that  he 


GIVING  loi 

uttered  the  warning,  "  Sound  not  a  trumpet  before 
thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogs  and  in 
the  streets,  that  they  may  have  glory  of  men.  But 
when  thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what 
thy  right  hand  doeth;  that  thy  alms  may  be  in  secret, 
and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret  shall  recompense 
thee  openly  "  (Matt.  6.  2-4). 

Not  Exchanging.  Exchanging  presents  is  not  giv- 
ing. This  custom  is  not  confined  to  the  Chinese.  It 
prevails  on  a  vast  scale  throughout  Christendom  in 
connection  with  the  celebration  of  the  birth  of  the 
Christ,  who  himself  said,  "  If  ye  lend  to  them  of  whom 
ye  hope  to  receive,  what  thank  have  ye  ?  Even  sinners 
lend  to  sinners,  to  receive  again  as  much"    (Luke 

6.34). 

Is,  then,  that  a  gift  which  brings  a  full  equivalent  in 
return  ?  For  example,  what  a  man  contributes  for  the 
support  of  his  own  church  usually  brings  back  one 
hundred  cents  on  the  dollar — and  of ttimes  even  more : 
intellectually,  from  the  pulpit;  musically,  from  the 
choir;  socially,  in  the  intercourse  of  himself  and  family 
with  other  members  of  the  church;  spiritually,  in  pas- 
toral care  and  fellowship  with  the  body  of  believers, 
and  in  manifold  other  ways;  even  materially,  in  the 
very  value  of  property,  enhanced  by  the  presence  of 
the  church.  True,  in  some  cases  the  church  may 
yield  no  return  commensurate  with  the  amount  con- 
tributed. The  preaching  may  be  poor,  the  '^  music  " 
an  offense  to  the  ear,  the  social  conditions  utterly  un- 
congenial, even  spiritual  atmosphere  sadly  lacking.     It 


102  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

is  for  none  of  these  things  that  one  should  identify 
himself  with  the  church,  but,  rather,  to  worship  God 
and  to  serve  his  fellow  men. 

It  is  no  less  true,  that  what  one  contributes  for  home 
missions,  whether  applied  in  the  local  community  or 
in  the  nation,  inevitably  reacts  to  the  advantage  of  the 
giver,  in  improving  the  conditions  in  which  he  lives. 
Likewise,  though  it  may  be  more  remotely,  what  goes 
to  foreign  missions  makes  the  world  better,  and  so 
benefits  the  giver. 

Indeed,  it  is  quite  impossible  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  case  to  give  without  receiving  a  return.  God  has 
made  a  blessing  inherent  in  the  very  quality  of  giving. 

"  It  is  twice  blessed  ; 
It  blesses  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes." 

The  president  of  one  of  the  great  financial  institu- 
tions of  New  York  saw  a  ragged  bootblack  drop  a  coin 
into  the  tin  cup  of  a  blind  beggar  on  Wall  Street  one 
December  day;  it  was  probably  the  price  of  the  boy's 
lunch.  The  banker  who  was  looking  on  followed  the 
boy.  "  Ragged  and  dirty  as  he  was,"  said  he,  "  I 
could  have  taken  him  in  my  arms  and  hugged  him." 
He  did  something  better  for  him.  He  took  a  personal 
interest  in  him  and  employed  him.  To-day  there  is  no 
brighter,  better  dressed,  or  more  industrious  office  boy 
in  that  city.  What  the  man  gave  came  back  more 
than  a  hundred  fold. 

"  There  is  no  true  alms  which  the  hand  can  hold ; 
He  gives  nothing  but  worthless  gold 


GIVING  103 

Who  gives  from  a  sense  of  duty. 

But  he  who  gives  but  a  slender  mite, 

And  gives  to  that  which  is  out  of  sight, 

The  thread  of  the  all-sustaining  beauty 

Which  runs  through  all  and  doth  all  unite, 

The  hand  cannot  grasp  the  whole  of  his  alms. 

The  heart  outstretches  its  eager  palms, 

For  a  god  goes  with  it  and  makes  it  store 

To  the  soul  that  was  starving  in  darkness  before." 


Along  with  that  may  be  put  the  Oriental -story  of  an 
Indian  ascetic,  told  by  Rabindranath  Tagore.  A 
Hindu  devotee,  begging  by  the  wayside,  saw  the  king 
coming.  Looking  for  rich  largess  he  was  about  to 
present  his  begging  bowl  when  the  king  in  jest  antici- 
pated him,  and  holding  out  his  own  hand  for  a  gift 
said,  "  What  hast  thou  to  give  to  me?  "  The  beggar 
picked  out  the  least,  tiniest  grain  of  corn  and  gave  it 
to  the  king.  That  night,  on  pouring  out  the  contents 
of  his  bag,  the  beggar  found  one  grain  of  pure  gold, 
just  the  size  of  the  grain  of  corn  he  had  given  the  king. 
"  I  bitterly  wept,"  said  the  beggar  afterward,  "  and 
wished  that  I  had  had  the  heart  to  give  thee  my  all, 
my  king." 

Giving  is  much  more  than  a  duty ;  it  is  a  joyful  privi- 
lege. To  have  a  part  with  God  in  the  plans  for  re- 
deeming the  world;  to  project  one's  life,  near  and  far, 
at  will;  to  bring  help  and  blessing  into  the  lives  of 
others — all  this  becomes  possible  to  the  giver.  "  An 
ordinary  contribution  box,"  as  Dr.  James  S.  Dennis 
used  to  say,  "  has  become  an  instrument  by  which  the 
contributor,  as  he  sits  in  his  pew,  can  touch  every 


104  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

continent  and  do  a  work  for  Christ  where  his  own 
footsteps  can  never  tread." 

Motive  Not  Sequel  Determines.  That  which  dis- 
tinguishes giving  from  all  other  forms  of  expenditure 
is  the  motive.  It  is  not  so  much  what  follows  after 
the  giving,  but  that  which  goes  before.  The  test  is, 
not  whether  the  gift  brought  a  return,  but  whether  the 
giver  sought  a  return.  Was  it  of  free  will  ?  Here  the 
contribution  to  the  church  is  on  quite  a  different  foot- 
ing from  that  to  the  state.  A  man  pays  taxes  to  the 
state,  knowing  full  well  that  he  will  receive  a  full 
equivalent  in  protection  of  life  and  property,  in  the 
education  of  his  children,  and  in  public  utilities.  If  he 
have  a  truly  Christian  conception  of  citizenship  and  of 
his  obligation  for  the  use  of  his  possessions,  he  will 
count  it  a  privilege  to  bear  his  full  share  of  the  cost  of 
government,  national  and  local.  But  it  is  not  a  matter 
of  choice.  Whether  he  will  or  not  he  must  pay  what- 
ever tax  the  state  imposes  or  he  will  pay  the 
penalty. 

The  Supreme  Result.  Best  of  all,  giving  brings 
joy  to  the  heart  of  God.  The  chief  end  of  giving  is 
not  the  good  it  does,  nor  is  it  even  the  reflex  effect  on 
the  character  of  the  giver,  but  the  glory  it  brings  to 
God.  As  Paul  puts  it  in  his  second  letter  to  the 
church  at  Corinth  (2  Cor.  9.  11,  12,  Weymouth  ver- 
sion), "  May  you  be  abundantly  enriched  so  as  to  show 
every  liberality,  such  as  through  our  instrumentality 
brings  thanksgiving  to  God.  For  the  service  rendered 
in  this  sacred  gift  not  only  helps  to  relieve  the  wants 


GIVING  105 

of  God's  people,  but  it  is  also  rich  in  its  results  in 
awakening  a  chorus  of  thanksgiving  to  God." 

Giving  Defined.  What,  then,  is  true  giving  o£ 
money?  It  is  the  unselfish  outpouring  of  oneself 
in  substance.  It  is  the  voluntary  bestowing  of  one's 
own  possessions,  expecting  nothing  in  return.  With 
the  gift  goes  one's  own  good-will,  a  part  of  one's  very 
self. 

To  What  to  Give.  It  is  necessary  to  discriminate 
in  determining  the  objects  to  which  to  give,  so  as  to 
make  the  gift  accomplish  the  best  result  possible.  This 
entails  upon  the  giver  the  responsibility  of  investigat- 
ing. The  easy  way — aye,  the  lazy  way — would,  no 
doubt,  be  to  relegate  this  responsibility  to  those  who 
may  be  supposed  to  know  better  than  the  individual. 
Indeed,  there  are  those  who  urge  that  the  right  way 
is  to  turn  one's  gifts  "  into  the  storehouse  "  (Mai. 
3.  10).  This  they  take  to  mean  the  local  church  or- 
ganization, which  for  the  purpose  is  assumed  to  be 
analagous  to  the  treasury  department  of  the  ancient 
Jewish  state.  If  this  course  were  followed,  the  giver 
would  forfeit  the  chief  benefit  to  be  derived,  in  the 
grace  which  only  giving  gives,  and  which  it  gives  only 
to  those  who  administer  their  trust  intelligently  and 
conscientiously  as  partners  of  their  absent  Partner. 
The  very  fact  that  one  may  be  at  a  loss  to  know  where 
the  needs  are  greatest  and  how  most  wisely  to  dis- 
tribute his  gifts  involves  the  necessity  of  the  giver  in- 
forming himself.  It  is  just  here  that  the  process  of 
education  is  necessitated.      Let  a  man  first  face  the 


io6  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

fact  of  his  own  ignorance;  then  let  him  proceed  to 
learn  the  facts  which  will  obviate  that  ignorance.  This 
is  involved  necessarily  in  his  stewardship.  It  was  for 
this  very  purpose,  in  part,  that  he  was  entrusted  with 
money,  so  that  in  the  very  giving  of  it  the  giver  may 
himself  grow  in  the  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  his 
Lord.  He  has  no  right  to  evade  that  responsibility, 
relegating  it  to  any  other. 

Principle  of  Selection.  In  selecting  the  objects, 
then,  or  the  classes  of  objects  to  which  one  should 
give,  our  Lord  himself  furnishes  the  guiding  prin- 
ciples. "  First  the  Kingdom."  And  since  the  church 
of  Christ  is  the  divinely  ordained  agency  for  extending 
the  Kingdom  through  all  the  earth,  the  very  first  object 
on  the  list  should  be  the  church  itself.  This,  of  course, 
will  include  more  than  its  support,  locally ;  it  includes, 
likewise,  the  entire  range  of  the  missionary  and 
benevolent  interests  of  the  church  at  large. 

Then  come  the  claims  of  the  community,  with  its 
varied  philanthropic  and  civic  interests — interdenomi- 
national Christian  associations,  hospitals,  organized 
charity. 

"  The  poor,"  as  our  Lord  reminds  us,  "  ye  have 
always  with  you"  (John  12.  8).  Most  of  us  will 
have  such  dependent  ones  within  the  circle  of  our  own 
family  connection. 

There  are  special  needs  that  arise  from  time  to  time, 
such  as  the  world  war  and  all  that  it  involves — the  Red 
Cross,  the  Red  Triangle,  and  kindred  agencies  for  the 
benefit  of  the  army  and  navy. 


GIVING  107 

How  to  Give.  None  need  be  at  any  loss  for  direc- 
tions as  to  how  to  give,  seeing  that  the  Scriptures  are 
so  explicit  as  to  this.     We  are  to  give : 

1.  Unostentatiously — '*'  Let  not  thy  left  hand  know 
what  thy  right  hand  doeth  "  (Matt.  6.  3). 

2.  Cheerfully — "  Let  each  man  do  according  as  he 
hath  purposed  in  his  heart;  not  grudgingly,  or  of  ne- 
cessity, for  the  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful  giver  " — liter- 
ally a  hilarious  or  gleeful  giver  (2  Cor.  g.  7), 

3.  Liberally — ''  The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat " 
(Prov.  II.  25). 

4.  Sacrificially — "  Neither  will  I  offer  burnt-offer- 
ings unto  Jehovah  my  God  which  cost  me  nothing" 
(2  Sam.  24.  24). 

5.  Systematically  and  proportionately — "  Upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week  let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him 
in  store,  as  he  may  prosper  (i  Cor.  16.  2). 

The  distinction  between  giving  systematically  and 
giving  proportionately  is  a  marked  one.  An  old 
farmer  in  the  Middle  West,  who  had  been  taught  in 
early  childhood  to  give  to  the  tune  of  "  Hear  the  pen- 
nies dropping  "  and  had  kept  up  the  habit  religiously 
even  to  the  present  day,  found  himself  at  church  on  a 
recent  Sunday  in  the  dilemma  of  having  no  ''  penny  " 
in  his  pocket,  in  fact  nothing  less  than  a  nickel.  At 
length  he  hit  upon  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty;  when  the 
plate  was  passed,  depositing  his  nickel  he  was  proceed- 
ing to  take  off  four  cents,  when  the  plate  was  hurriedly 
withdrawn.  ''  Never  mind,"  he  consoled  himself,  "  I 
can  get  square."  And  for  four  Sundays  he  put  noth- 
ing on  the  plate.     Yet  he  was  a  systematic  contributor. 


io8  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

How  far  removed  is  such  a  spirit  from  that  of  the 
poor  Bulu  Christians,  of  West  Africa,  just  emerging 
from  the  darkness  and  as  yet  only  in  the  gray  dawn  of 
spiritual  enlightenment.  In  a  village  to  which  a  mis- 
sionary had  been  called  for  the  burial  of  a  Christian 
woman  he  noticed  that  when  the  body  was  being  pre- 
pared for  the  grave  something  was  put  into  her  hand. 
Finding  that  it  was  a  piece  of  money,  he  asked  why  it 
was  put  there.  ''  To  show  to  God  that  she  was  a 
giver,"  was  the  prompt  reply. 

A  man  may  make  the  giving  of  money  a  mighty 
means  of  grace  to  himself  as  well  as  of  personal  service 
to  others.  Giving  makes  the  prayer-life  more  real  and 
practical.  A  manufacturer  in  England  on  whom  I 
once  called  to  ask  him  to  give  for  work  in  India,  after 
hearing  the  facts  stated,  asked  to  be  excused  for  a 
little.  Withdrawing  into  an  inner  room,  he  laid  the 
matter  before  the  Chief  Partner;  then  he  waited  for 
the  wireless  message  which  should  guide  his  decision. 
When  he  came  out  and  drew  a  generous  check,  I  could 
not  but  realize  that  I  had  discovered  the  secret  of  the 
success  of  one  of  the  greatest  commercial  concerns  in 
Great  Britain. 

He  who  puts  part  of  himself  into  his  gift  enhances 
its  value  many  fold. 

"  Not  what  we  give  but  what  we  share, 
For  the  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare." 

The  Unspeakable  Gift.  No  amount  of  money 
given  can  possibly  take  the  place  of  giving  oneself. 


GIVING  109 

"  First  they  gave  their  own  selves  ''  (2  Cor.  8.  5)  was 
the  highest  encomium  that  could  possibly  have  been 
paid  to  the  early  Macedonian  Christians.  They  fol- 
lowed closely  in  the  footsteps  of  their  Master. 

"Who  giveth  himself  with  his  alms  feeds  three, 
Himself,  his  hungering  neighbor,  and  Me." 

Probably  Jesus  never  had  a  coin  to  give.  He  seems 
to  have  converted  every  asset  into  the  form  of  per- 
sonal service.  So  completely  had  he  mastered  the 
mechanics  of  living,  that  he  was  not  encumbered  with 
any  surplus  of  "  things.''  So  unerringly  did  he  steer 
the  middle  course  between  "  the  cares  of  the  world  " 
and  "  the  deceitfulness  of  riches  "  as  to  perfectly  at- 
tain "  the  simple  life."  "  Having  food  and  covering,'* 
he  was  therewith  content.  He  left  behind  not  a  single 
material  thing  except  only  the  seamless  robe  and  the 
other  garments  which  the  Roman  soldiers  appropriated 
at  the  cross.  **  He  carved  no  statue,  painted  no  pic- 
ture, wrote  no  poem,  composed  no  song,  fashioned  no 
ornament,  built  no  edifice,  founded  no  city,  erected  no 
triumphal  arch;  yet  he  stands  in  history  as  the  peer- 
less Prince  of  givers."  He  gave  that  which  was  price- 
less— ''  the  unspeakable  gift  " — himself. 

According  as  one  learns  this  great  central  lesson  of 
life  in  giving,  he  becomes  a  true  philanthropist,  giving 
himself  with  his  gifts,  or  else  a  mere  patronizer,  seek- 
ing credit  or  advantage  for  himself. 


no  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

V.  Giving 

Aim  :  To  show  that  according  to  the  spirit  in  which  a  man  gives, 

he  receives  the  blessing  of  the  philanthropist  in  joy, 

or  the  self-satisfaction  of  the  patroniser. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

How  may  we  get  some  conception  of  God's  capacity  for 
giving? 

What  is  his  purpose  in  teaching  men  to  give? 

How  does  giving  transform  the  giver? 

Is  giving  optional? 

Is  that  giving  for  which  a  full  equivalent  is  received? 

Can  what  is  spent  on  one's  family  (as  in  educating  children  for 
Christian  work)  be  properly  classed  as  giving? 

How  can  we  draw  a  line  to  distinguish  where  spending  ends 
and  giving  begins? 

What  constitutes  real  giving?  Write  out  your  own  definition 
of  giving. 

What  are  some  of  the  results  to  the  giver? 

How  may  we  distinguish  what  precedes  giving  from  what 
follows  It? 

How  does  our  giving  affect  God? 

How  can  one  best  determine  to  what  objects  to  give? 

What  directions  for  giving  do  the  Scriptures  suggest? 

Distinguish  between  giving  systematically  and  giving  propor- 
tionately. 

How  far  may  promise  of  material  benefit  properly  be  used  as 
an  inducement  for  giving? 

What  is  the  highest  type  of  giving?  To  what  extent  am  I 
giving  myself  with  my  gifts?  How  far  are  my  possessions  being 
converted  into  personality? 

To  what  extent  is  my  giving  sacrificial? 


GIVING  III 

Problems  from  Life 

I.  One  bleak  Christmas  eve  a  Yale  student,  spending  his 
vacation  in  settlement  work  in  the  lower  end  of  New  York  City, 
found  a  German  widow  woman  in  a  cheerless  attic  tenement, 
with  three  little  daughters  down  with  typhoid  fever,  without 
fuel  or  food  or  medical  attention.  He  got  fuel  and  made  a  fire, 
brought  food  and  a  doctor.  One  of  the  children  died;  the  other 
two  recovered.  The  woman  came  to  the  Neighborhood  House, 
then  to  the  church,  then  to  Christ.  Hearing  of  the  famine  in 
India,  she  made  up  her  mind  to  show  her  gratitude  by  taking 
up  the  support  of  one  or  more  Indian  famine  waifs  in  memory 
of  the  little  girl  whom  she  had  lost.  She  was  earning  her  living 
and  supporting  her  family  by  scrubbing  floors  at  night  in  a  great 
office  building  in  the  neighborhood.  Out  of  her  hard-earned 
wages,  she  began  to  set  aside  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  week,  and 
found  that  she  was  able  thus  to  take  care  of  four  famine 
waifs.  She  also  began  to  interest  herself  in  those  about  her  in 
the  neighborhood  who  were  in  poorer  circumstances  than  herself. 
On  the  following  Christmas  eve,  when  I  went  to  the  new  rooms 
to  which  she  had  moved  from  her  attic  tenement,  I  found  that 
she  had  papered  them  with  her  own  hands  and  had  put  in  a  baby 
organ,  on  which  the  children  were  learning  to  play.  She  gath- 
ered together  a  group  of  poor  children  for  a  Christmas  party 
and  got  her  fellow  scrub-women  to  join  in  providing  for  the 
treat.  Out  of  the  new-born  love  for  her  Savior,  she  soon  had 
learned  the  great  lesson  of  Christian  giving. 

How  do  you  account  for  this  woman's  love  reaching  so  far  to 
express  itself  in  giving? 

II.  A  pastor,  his  wife,  and  their  small  son,  all  of  them  giving 
proportionately,  contribute  as  much  for  benevolence  through 
their  church  as  all  the  other  497  members  combined.  Of  eight 
elders,  only  four  give  for  benevolence,  aggregating  forty  cents 
a  week;  of  nine  trustees,  only  one  gives  for  benevolence,  and 
he  but  five  cents  a  week. 

If  you  were  the  pastor  of  that  church,  what  course  would 
you  adopt? 

III.  Among  the  simple-hearted  Christians  of  the  western 
coast  of  Africa  the  custom  is  to  celebrate  the  birth  of  Christ, 


112  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

not  by  exchanging  gifts  with  one  another,  but  by  presenting  their 
choicest  offerings  to  the  church.  Christmas  day,  as  the  proces- 
sion filed  down  the  aisle  to  the  altar,  bringing  offerings  of  all 
sorts — a  bunch  of  wild  flowers,  garden  vegetables,  small  copper 
coins — the  missionary  noticed  a  poor  girl  who  had  recently 
been  redeemed  from  the  unspeakable  degradation  of  raw  pagan- 
ism draw  from  under  her  ragged  dress  a  piece  of  silver  worth 
about  a  dollar.  Amazed,  he  thought  that  she  could  not  have 
come  by  it  honestly,  and  was  at  first  inclined  to  refuse  to  receive 
it.  But,  taking  is  so  as  to  avoid  attracting  attention  to  her,  he 
afterward  sought  her  out  in  the  crowd  and  asked  for  an  explana- 
tion. Then  very  simply  she  told  him  that,  having  nothing  worthy 
to  offer  her  new-found  Savior,  she  had  gone  to  a  neighboring 
plantation  and  there  had  bound  herself  as  a  slave  in  return  for 
this  piece  of  silver.  She  was  literally  laying  down  her  life  at 
the  feet  of  her  Lord. 

How  can  you  in  your  circumstances  best  express  the  spirit 
shown  by  this  African  girl? 


VI 

PROPORTIONING 

To  have  is  to  owe,  not  to  own. 


Honor  Jehovah  with  thy  substance,  and  with  the  first-fruits  of 
all  thine  increase;  so  shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and 
thy  vats  shall  overflow  with  new  wine  (Prov.  3.9). 

Ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone 
the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  and  mercy,  and  faith; 
but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  other 
undone  (Matt.  23.23). 

Every  man  shall  give  as  he  is  able  (Deut.  16.17). 

Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  each  one  of  you  lay  by 
him  in  store,  as  he  may  prosper  (i  Cor.  16.2). 


VI 

PROPORTIONING 

Clew  to  a  Maze.  In  a  matter  of  such  vital  im- 
portance as  the  training  of  mankind  into  unselfishness, 
through  giving,  is  it  conceivable  that  God  would  have 
no  definite  plan  ?  Would  he  have  been  likely  to  leave 
it  to  the  haphazard  of  human  choice,  to  determine 
whether  or  not  offerings  were  to  be  made  an  integral 
part  of  worship;  and,  if  so,  on  what  basis?  Going 
back  to  the  Book  of  Beginnings,  which  contains  the 
embryos  of  the  institutions  of  the  race,  we  find  there 
the  first  trace  of  giving  in  human  history :  "  In  process 
of  time  at  the  end  of  the  days  (evidently  a  cycle  of 
days,  or  when  the  Sabbath  came  around)  it  came  to 
pass,  that  Cain  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  an 
offering  unto  Jehovah.  And  Abel,  he  also  brought  of 
the  firstlings  of  his  flock  and  of  the  fat  thereof  " 
(Gen.  4.3,4). 

That  these  two  men,  so  diametrically  different  in 
disposition,  should  have  come  at  the  same  time  to  the 
same  place  each  with  an  offering,  could  not  have  been 
without  design,  indicating  a  divine  appointment,  an 
institution,  a  plan.  Meager  though  the  record  is,  it 
contains  a  clew  to  the  solution  of  our  problem.     In 

"5 


ii6  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Tertullian's  rendering  of  the  context,  in  his  ^Answer 
to  the  Jews,  chapter  V,  the  record  runs  thus :  "  God 
had  respect  unto  Abel  and  his  gifts,  but  unto  Cain  and 
his  gifts  he  had  not  respect.  And  God  said  unto  Cain, 
*Why  is  thy  countenance  fallen?  Hast  thou  not 
sinned,  if  thou  offerest  aright  but  dost  not  divide 
aright f  Hold  thy  peace.  For  unto  thee  (shall)  the 
conversion  (be),  and  he  shall  lord  it  over  thee  "  (Gen. 

4.4-7). 

Upon  that  epoch-marking  event  the  writer  of  the 

Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  makes  this  inspired  comment : 

"  By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent 

(more  abundant)  sacrifice  than  Cain"  (Heb.  11.  4). 

Wherein,  then,  consists  the  **  excellence "  of  true 
offerings?  Is  it  in  measuring  up  to  a  mathematical 
proportion,  the  giving  of  a  certain  fixed  fraction  of 
income,  prescribed  of  God  for  all  men  under  all  cir- 
cumstances? Men  have  long  debated  the  moot  ques- 
tion, "  Is  the  tithe  obligatory  upon  the  Christian  under 
the  New  Covenant,  as  it  was  upon  the  Hebrew  under 
the  Old?  "  Upon  this  issue  devoted  disciples  continue 
to  differ.  It  is  no  doubt  due  to  this  disagreement  more 
than  to  any  other  cause,  that  there  has  been  such  tedi- 
ously slow  progress  in  extending  the  practise  of  pro- 
portionate giving  throughout  the  church  at  large. 

"A  Universal  Obligation/'  Say  Some.  "The 
tithe  is  one  of  God's  twin  laws,"  says  one  set  of 
people,  "  eternal,  immutable,  unchangeable  as  the  Sab- 
bath itself — one  tenth  of  man's  money,  as  well  as 
one  seventh  of  man's  time,  is  God's  in  a  peculiar  sense. 


PROPORTIONING  117 

Both  of  these  laws  are  as  old  as  the  race,  for  man's 
benefit;  reaffirmed  (not  enacted)  in  the  Mosaic  Law; 
endorsed  by  Jesus;  taught  by  the  Apostles  and  ob- 
served for  centuries  in  the  Christian  church."  ^ 

"  Legalistic,"  Say  Others.  ''  Not  so,"  answers  the 
other.  ''  Tithing  is  legalistic.  I  lay  down  no  propor- 
tion of  tenths,  thirds,  or  halves;  for  Christ  has  not 
done  so.  Under  the  Levitical  Law  everything  was  de- 
manded by  weight,  number,  and  measure.  But  it  is 
not  so  under  the  more  free  and  generous  and  spiritual 
dispensation  of  the  gospel.  Christ  has  trusted  his  cause 
to  our  love,  our  honor,  our  sense  of  gratitude.  Under 
the  legal  dispensation,  all  things  taken  into  account,  a 
Jew's  religion  would  have  cost  him  little  less  than  half 
his  income.  And  yet  some  Christians  talk  of  a  tenth 
of  theirs.  I  do  not  say  how  much  is  enough  for  poorer 
Christians,  but  I  am  sure  that  for  rich  ones  this  is  a 
very  paltry  sum  to  carry  to  him  who  gave  all  for 
them."  ^ 

Even  Leaders  in  Doubt.  Thus,  though  not  to  any 
such  degree  or  with  such  disastrous  results  as  in  the 
case  of  Cain  and  Abel  of  old,  good  men  still  take  up 
attitudes  diametrically  different  as  to  this  debatable 
point.  A  fog  envelops  the  subject  and  many  are 
puzzled.  Recently  the  veteran  secretary  of  a  board  of 
foreign  missions,  a  man  of  ripe  Christian  experience, 
confessed  to  me  that  he  had  been  all  his  life  long  in 

^  "  Layman,"  God's  Twin  Laws. 

^John  Angell  James,  Christian  Stewardship  (Gold  Prize 
Essay). 


ii8  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

doubt  as  to  what  his  duty  was  in  the  matter  of  tithing. 
If  that  is  the  case  with  wise  leaders  such  as  he,  what 
can  be  expected  of  the  rank  and  file?  When  doctors 
differ  thus,  no  wonder  that  "  the  man  in  the  street "  is 
perplexed.  When  once  those  who  should  take  the  lead 
shall  have  searched  the  Scriptures  and  come  to  com- 
mon ground  as  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  pro- 
portionate giving,  the  Adversary  can  no  longer  succeed 
in  his  favorite  tactics  of  hindering  the  work  of  the 
Kingdom  by  dividing  the  King's  workers.  Not  that 
men  are  disposed  to  quibble  over  this  matter  as  a  mere 
academic  question  for  discussion.  Many  who  sincerely 
desire  to  know  the  truth  are  still  utterly  at  a  loss.  Even 
as  this  is  written  comes  a  letter  from  India,  written  by 
one  who  has  turned  aside  from  more  lucrative  pursuits 
to  devote  his  life  to  the  Christianizing  of  his  own  be- 
loved land,  and  who  is  looked  up  to  as  in  a  premier 
position  of  leadership  among  Indian  Christians.  He 
writes : 


"  I  am  not  so  much  troubled  as  to  how  much  or  what  propor- 
tion of  one's  income  should  be  given  systematically  for  Christ's 
work  William  Carey  gave  out  of  his  salary  of  fifteen  hundred 
rupees  ($Soo)  a  month  all  but  fifty  rupees,  on  which  he  lived. 
If  that  was  right  and  God  accepted  the  gift,  then  if  Carey  had 
received  only  fifty-one  rupees  and  given  only  one  rupee,  God 
would  have  been  no  less  pleased  with  Carey,  for  he  knew 
Carey's  heart.  If  an  Indian  Christian  graduate  who  could  earn, 
say,  one  hundred  rupees  a  month  or  more,  is  willing  to  serve 
the  church  for  eighty  rupees  a  month,  does  he  not  give  up  twenty 
rupees  a  month  for  God?  And  will  God  demand  eight  rupees 
out  of  his  eighty  rupees  income  to  satisfy  the  letter  of  the  law 
of  the  tithe?     I  do  not  think  so.     Christianity  is  not  Judaism. 


PROPORTIONING  119 

Any  one  who  really  loves  the  Lord  and  truly  prays  for  the  com- 
ing of  his  Kingdom,  will  gladly  give  all  that  he  possibly  can 
give." 

My  friend  could  have  made  his  point  even  more 
strongly  had  he  referred  to  some  of  his  fellows  who 
have  joined  the  order  of  "  Servants  of  India  "  and 
have  gone  forth  to  preach  without  any  salary  what- 
ever. 

William  Carey  did  not  always  have  an  income  of 
$7,500  a  year,  as  he  did  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
when  serving  the  East  India  Company  as  Professor  of 
Sanskrit  in  Fort  William  College,  Calcutta.  When  he 
v/as  a  cobbler  and  afterward  a  humble  preacher,  in 
England,  earning  only  100  pounds  (the  equivalent  of 
1,500  rupees  a  year,  instead  of  1,500  rupees  a  month), 
he  gave  away  half  of  it.  Is  it  not  safe  to  conclude, 
that,  had  he  received  only  5 1  rupees  a  month,  he  would 
have  managed  to  give  away  at  least  one  tenth  of  it? 
And  undoubtedly  he  would  have  found,  what  so  many 
others  have  discovered  who  have  taken  God  at  his 
word,  that,  after  first  of  all  dedicating  a  portion  to  the 
Lord,  he  could  better  afford  to  live  and  to  live  better 
on  the  remainder  than  by  using  the  whole  for  his  own 
living. 

Money  but  a  Part  of  Life.  It  is  quite  true,  that 
not  all  giving  can  be  measured  in  terms  of  money. 
What  is  given  up  may  actually  count  for  much  more 
than  what  is  given.  Some  of  life's  richest  assets  can 
never  be  converted  into  cash  at  all.  They  could  not 
possibly  be  tithed,  though  they  are  more  precious  than 


I20  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

pure  gold.  There  are  forms  other  and  better,  too, 
than  that  of  money  into  which  life  may  be  converted 
and  in  which  it  may  be  conserved  and  given  to  God. 
Here,  for  instance,  is  one  who  has  spent  all  his  life 
as  a  missionary  in  the  coal-fields  of  Pennsylvania, 
never  receiving  a  salary  of  more  than  $600,  often  less. 
Yet  during  his  forty-two  years  of  service  he  took  into 
his  own  home  forty  young  men  and  fitted  them  for 
college;  to-day  they  fill  places  of  leadership  as  min- 
isters at  home  and  on  the  foreign  mission  fields,  as 
physicians  and  lawyers.  One  of  them  is  a  college 
president.  Could  this  faithful  servant's  account  be 
reduced  to  figures  in  a  cash-book  or  balanced  on  the 
basis  of  a  tenth  due? 

Some  men,  while  amassing  money,  succeed  in  them- 
selves transmuting  their  money  into  terms  of  life. 
Others,  foregoing  the  making  of  money  beyond  the 
mere  requirements  of  a  modest  living,  turn  their  main 
energies,  instead,  into  channels  of  service  for  others. 
Some  years  ago,  in  celebrating  the  completion  of  fifty 
years'  service  by  Richard  C.  Morse,  as  General  Secre- 
tary of  the  International  Committee  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Mr.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge 
addressed  Mr.  Morse  in  these  words :  "  If  you  had 
used  your  brains  as  John  D.  Rockefeller  did,  you,  too, 
might  have  amassed  $149,000,000,  but  you  are  richer 
as  you  are." 

How  much,  do  you  suppose,  our  Lord's  tithes  totaled 
in  any  of  those  eventful  years  of  tireless  service  of 
which  he  said,  *'  The  Son  of  man  hath  not  where-  to 


PROPORTIONING  121 

lay  his  head  "  ?  What  did  his  contributions  in  money 
amount  to  at  the  Nazareth  synagog?  Or  for  the  sup- 
port of  "  the  church  which  he  purchased  with  his  own 
blood  "  (Acts  20.  28)  ?  When  the  tax  collector  came 
around,  he  had  not  a  single  coin  on  hand;  "his  only 
purse  was  the  mouth  of  a  fish"  (Matt.  17.27). 
When  at  the  last  the  soldiers  took  possession  of  his 
garments  and  cast  lots  for  his  seamless  robe  (John 
19.  23),  how  much  money  did  they  find? 

A  Distinction.  How,  then,  can  life  possibly  be 
summed  up  in  dollars  and  cents,  or  parceled  out  into 
tenths  or  any  other  fractions?  But  whether  it  be  in 
material  form  or  immaterial,  all  of  life  is  alike  a  trust 
which  the  faithful  steward  will  administer  with  a  due 
sense  of  proportion.  Our  Lord  very  explicitly  points 
out  that  in  a  very  real  sense  there  are  "  things  that  are 
God's,"  and  no  less  are  there  other  ''  things  that  are 
Caesar's  "  (Matt.  22.  21).  To  say  that  all  things  are 
God's,  including  "  Caesar  "  and  income  tax  and  all,  is 
but  to  raise  dust  and  indulge  in  pious  cant.  While  not 
falling  into  the  fallacy  of  dividing  life  into  air-tight 
compartments  of  ''sacred"  and  '^vSecular,"  let  no  one 
close  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  clear-cut  dis- 
tinction to  be  preserved  as  to  the  part  of  a  man's  life 
— of  his  money  as  well  as  his  time — that  is  to  be  set 
apart  "  unto  the  Lord."  There  is  a  true  distinction  to 
be  observed  between  the  "  sacred  "  and  the  "  secular." 
While  the  sacred  should  permeate  the  whole,  yet 
all  life  cannot  possibly  be  reduced  to  one  level, 
though  some  men  would  have  it  so.     All  days  are  not 


122  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

the  same ;  the  Lord's  Day  is  set  apart,  as  the  Sabbath 
was  of  old,  by  sanctions  of  reHgion  for  rest  and  wor- 
ship in  a  way  quite  different  from  other  days.  All 
money  is  not  to  be  treated  in  the  same  way;  a  certain 
portion  is  to  be  set  apart  "  unto  the  Lord,"  and  this 
should  influence  the  disposing  of  all  the  remainder. 
This  is  made  unmistakably  clear  throughout  the 
Scriptures. 

God's  Kindergarten  Method.  The  Bible  furnishes 
the  record  of  a  progressive  revelation  of  the  will  of 
God  with  reference  to  the  things  of  men  and  of  the 
revolution  wrought  hereby  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
within  the  souls  of  men.  He  with  whom  "  a  thousand 
years  are  as  one  day,"  has  taken  time  to  slowly  train 
the  race,  leading  mankind  up  by  almost  imperceptible 
gradations  toward  the  ultimate  standard.  Growth  in 
the  grace  of  giving  seems  to  have  been  very  like  the 
leading  of  a  little  child  up  a  pair  of  stairs. 

With  Pagan  Peoples.  The  custom  of  dedicating 
religiously  a  tenth  by  way  of  acknowledgment  of  the 
divine  right  of  ownership  was  common  in  ancient 
pagan  nations  centuries  before  Moses  and  even  before 
Abraham.  Records  now  accessible,  some  of  which 
date  back  to  3800  B.C.,  leave  no  doubt  that  such  was 
the  case  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  Chaldea,  Babylonia,  India, 
and  China.  In  most  cases  a  part  at  least  of  the  por- 
tion presented  in  the  pagan  temple  found  its  way  to  the 
palace.  The  state  and  religion  seem  to  have  com- 
mingled from  the  earliest  time,  especially  where  money 
was  involved. 


PROPORTIONING  123 

Among  the  Patriarchs.  In  the  time  of  the  Pa- 
triarchs, Abraham  carried  the  custom  over  from 
Chaldea  to  Palestine  and  paid  tithes  to  Melchizedek, 
"  king  of  Salem  .  .  .  priest  of  God  Most  High,  pos- 
sessor of  heaven  and  earth"  (Gen.  14.  18,  19). 

Jacob,  in  turn,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
grandfather,  devoted  a  tenth  to  God  (Gen.  28.  22) — 
or  at  least  under  stress  of  somewhat  trying  circum- 
stances he  vowed  he  would  do  so;  further  than  that 
the  record  does  not  run. 

In  the  Hebrew  Nation.  When  the  Hebrews  be- 
came a  nation,  the  custom  of  the  tithe  was  applied  to 
the  purposes  of  their  religion  and  provided  for  in  the 
statutes  of  their  Ceremonial  Law.  "  Each  head  of  a 
family  among  the  Jews  was  bound  by  direct  enactment 
to  give  a  tenth  of  all  his  yearly  increase  to  the  support 
of  the  ministering  tribe  of  Levi.  He  was  obliged  to 
pay  a  second  tithe  for  the  support  of  the  feasts;  a 
third  tenth  once  in  three  years  for  the  poor;  and  in 
addition  there  were  trespass  offerings,  long  and  costly 
journeys  to  the  temple,  and  sundry  other  religious 
charges,  all  imposed  by  divine  sanction,  besides  the 
free-will  offerings.  Taking  all  these  items,  it  is  un- 
doubted that  among  the  Jews  every  head  of  a  family 
was  under  religious  obligation  to  give  away  at  least 
one  fifth,  perhaps  as  much  as  a  third,  of  his  yearly 
income."  ^ 

What  was  thus  paid  to  the  temple  under  theocracy 
includes  what  under  a  democracy  is  paid  to  the  state 

^  The  Duty  of  Giving  Azuay,  William  Arthur. 


124  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

in  taxes,  as  well  as  what  goes  to  the  church  for  its 
support. 

How  long  this  Mosaic  order  was  carried  out,  we  do 
not  know.  Samuel  in  his  protest  against  Israel's  ask- 
ing for  a  king,  declares  that  "  he  will  take  the  tenth  of 
your  seed,  and  of  your  vineyards,  and  give  to  his 
officers,  and  to  his  servants  " ;  also  "  he  will  take  the 
tenth  of  your  flocks :  and  ye  shall  be  his  servants  "  ( i 
Sam.  8.  15-17).  It  is  likely  that  the  sacred  use  of  the 
tithe  was  early  perverted  under  the  kings.  We  hear 
no  more  of  the  system  until  the  time  of  Hezekiah. 
Gradually  the  nation  backslid  from  its  obligation  until 
the  prophets  raised  their  voices  in  stern  protest;  "Ye 
have  robbed  me,"  declares  Malachi,  "  in  tithes  and 
offerings"  (Mai.  3.8).^ 

"In  the  Days  of  His  Flesh."  In  the  New  Testa- 
ment little  reference  is  made  to  the  tithe.  Rising  into 
its  higher  altitudes  and  clearer  atmosphere,  we  can 
catch  only  a  few  faint  echoes  of  that  old  order  which 
had  prevailed  in  the  narrow  valley  left  behind.  One 
of  these  passages  is  the  word  of  condemnation  spoken 
by  our  Lord  at  the  Pharisee's  dinner-table  (Matt. 
23-  23),  "  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo- 
crites !  For  ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and 
have  left  undone  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law, 
justice,  and  mercy,  and  faith;  but  these  ye  ought  to 
have  done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  other  undone." 
Or,  as  Luke  reports  it,  "  Ye  tithe  mint  and  rue  and 

*  See  W.  Henry  Lansdell,  The  Sacred  Tenth;  E.  B.  Stewart, 
The  Tithe. 


PROPORTIONING  125 

every  herb,  and  pass  over  justice  and  the  love  of  God." 
The  reference  to  tithing  appears  to  be  incidental;  our 
Lord  seems  to  have  selected  that  which  is  secondary 
in  importance  and  passing  away  with  the  old  order, 
to  compare  or  rather  contrast  with  it  the  infinitely 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  mercy,  faith — 
the  love  of  God.  For  the  Jew  who  rested  in  the  Law 
(Rom.  2.  17)  and  made  his  boast  in  it,  there  could  be 
no  question  that  he  "  ought "  to  obey  its  every  require- 
ment; but  does  this  allusion  of  our  Lord  to  the  Jewish 
obligation  constitute  a  sufficient  basis  on  which  to  build 
a  financial  system  for  all  those  who,  being  justified  by 
God's  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  have  become  heirs  of  the  free  grace  of  the 
gospel ? 

Those  who  hold  that  one  tenth  of  all  income  is 
inhibited  by  immutable  law,  even  as  one  seventh  of 
time,  should  explain  why  the  former  is  not  incorpo- 
rated in  the  Decalog,  as  is  the  latter.  Why  is  it  that 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  enjoined  as  a  part  of 
the  fundamental  moral  law,  while  the  tithe  is  found 
in  the  ceremonial  law  (Lev.  27.  33)  ? 

The  solitary  figure  of  a  tither  appearing  on  the 
pages  of  the  New  Testament  is  the  Pharisee  who 
"  prayed  thus  with  himself,  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I 
am  not  as  the  rest  of  men,  ...  I  give  tithes  of  all 
that  I  get  "  (Luke  18.  11,  12). 

Paul  makes  no  mention  at  all  of  the  tithe  in  any  of 
his  epistles,  but,  instead,  he  adopts  the  ancient  prin- 
ciple, "Every  man  shall  give  as  he  is  able"   (Deut. 


126  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

i6.  17),  and  embodies  it  in  the  Silver  Rule  of  the 
Christian  church,  "  Let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in 
store,  as  he  may  prosper  "  (i  Cor.  16. 2). 

The  only  other  reference  to  the  tithe  in  the  New 
Testament  is  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  where  the  writer,  arguing  that  the  priest- 
hood of  Christ  is  of  a  higher  order  than  that  of  Levi, 
cites  as  proof  the  fact  that  Levi,  "  yet  in  the  loins  of 
his  father  Abraham,"  though  himself  entitled  to  re- 
ceive tithes,  nevertheless  paid  tithes  to  that  mysterious 
priest-king  of  Salem,  Melchizedek,  the  prototype  of 
Christ.  Even  in  that  distant  day  the  index-finger 
pointed  the  way  to  him  at  whose  feet  the  Wise-men 
were  later  to  lay  their  gold  and  frankincense  and 
myrrh.  It  was  not  so  much,  however,  to  the  tithe  as 
to  the  King  that  attention  is  here  turned.  He  it  is 
who  is  worthy  to  receive  the  homage  of  all  true  givers. 
The  crucial  test  of  the  judgment  day,  indeed,  is  to 
be,  whether  or  not  what  we  have  given,  in  either  spirit- 
ual or  material  form,  has  been  "unto  me"  (Matt. 
25.40).  In  that  day  it  will  not  be  a  question  of 
amount  or  of  proportion,  so  much  as  of  motive  and 
spirit.     And  the  same  is  the  case  to-day. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that,  in  place  of  the  old  system 
which  had  served  the  purpose  of  the  kindergarten, 
there  would  be  substituted  under  the  New  Covenant 
something  larger,  more  vital,  more  elastic  than  the 
tithe.  In  pagan  and  patriarchal  times  a  tenth  had 
been  the  standard.  Under  the  Mosaic  system  this  had 
been  raised  to  two  tenths  and  even  more,  while  a  vol- 


PROPORTIONING  127 

untary  element  had  been  introduced  by  explicit  pro- 
vision for  various  offerings.  With  the  introduction  of 
the  gospel,  it  is  provided  that  "  all "  shall  come  under 
the  sway  of  Christ.  "  Whosoever  he  be  of  you  that 
renounceth  not  all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  dis- 
ciple "  (Luke  14.  33).  The  test  applied  to  the  young 
ruler  (Mark  10.  21)  is  the  standard  for  all  who  will 
follovv^  Christ — ''Go,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast;  give; 
come,  take,  follow  me,  and  thou  shalt  have."  His  pos- 
sessions might  still  have  been  left  in  his  hands,  but  to 
be  henceforth  held  in  trust  for  another,  whose  owner- 
ship in  it  must  in  common  honesty  be  acknowledged; 
and  if  acknowledged,  he  v/ould  enter  into  partnership 
with  the  young  ruler,  as  the  Junior  Partner  in  the 
handling  of  the  property,  as  well  as  of  all  of  his 
life. 

A  New  Principle.  The  divine  multiplication  table 
does  not  follow  the  rule  of  human  arithmetic.  Accord- 
ing to  God's  directions,  we  multiply  as  well  as  add  by 
subtracting :  "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  increaseth 
yet  more;  and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is 
meet,  but  it  tendeth  only  to  want"  (Prov.  11.24). 
But  these  thoughts  of  God  are  so  diametrically  differ- 
ent from  man's  thoughts  concerning  what  he  has  in 
his  hands  that  only  by  a  long  patient  process  could  he 
be  brought  to  God's  standard  of  giving.  Nothing 
short  of  a  revolution  would  suffice  to  bring  man  to  the 
point  of  voluntarily  parting  with  his  holdings.  It 
was  necessary  that  the  struggle  for  divine  sovereignty 
over  all  life,  including  man's  possessions,  should  be 


128  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

carried  on  through  the  centuries  until  the  victory  over 
selfishness  is  fully  won. 

When  we  look  into  the  record  of  the  gospel  to  see 
these  principles  applied,  we  find  progressive  stages  of 
consecration,  corresponding  in  some  measure  with  the 
progressive  stages  of  revelation  of  God's  will  as  to 
stewardship.  In  these  typical  instances,  can  be  traced 
the  advance  of  the  Christian  consciousness  to  the 
standard  of  the  New  Law  of  the  Christ  life : 

"As  he  may  prosper" — as  enjoined  by  Paul  (i 
Cor.  1 6.  2). 

"  To  their  power  and  beyond  " — as  practised  by 
Christians  of  Macedonia  (2  Cor.  8.  1-3). 

"  Half  of  my  goods  " — as  in  the  case  of  Zacchseus 
(Luke  19.  8). 

"  All  her  living  " — as  with  the  widow  whom  our 
Lord  immortalized  (Mark  12.41-44). 

The  standard  set  up  by  our  Lord,  as  the  indispen- 
sable condition  of  discipleship,  is  nothing  short  of  this: 
"  Whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  renounceth  not  all  that 
he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple  "  (Luke  14.  33).  It 
was  because  the  young  ruler  failed  to  meet  this  test 
that  he  went  away  sorrowful  (Mark  10.  22).  Not  so, 
Barnabas,  being  "  a  Levite  (Levi  once  again  paying 
tithes  to  Melchizedek!)  .  .  .  having  a  field,  sold  it,  and 
brought  the  money  and  laid  it  at  the  apostles'  feet  *' 

(Acts  4.  36). 

Superseding  the  Old.  While  that  which  is  acci- 
dental is  temporary,  whatever  is  of  the  essence  is  abid- 
ing.    When  once  the  grace  of  giving  is  established  in 


PROPORTIONING  129 

the  human  consciousness,  the  scaffolding  of  statutes 
and  ordinances  is  removed.  What,  then,  are  the  es- 
sential and  eternal  elements  inherent  in  Christian  stew- 
ardship? Looking  back  over  the  age-long  education 
of  the  race,  these  principles  appear  in  God's  plan  of 
developing  the  grace  of  giving  in  the  hearts  of  his 
children : 

1.  That  giving  is  ordained  to  be  an  integral  part  of 
worship,  in  acknowledgment  of  God's  sovereign  owner- 
ship. 

2.  That,  in  order  to  guard  against  insincerity  of  con- 
secration and  indefiniteness  as  to  the  amount,  a  definite 
portion  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  Lord,  as  the  first-fruits 
of  all  increase. 

3.  That,  instead  of  arbitrarily  fixing  a  uniform  pro- 
portion for  all  under  all  circumstances,  God  gives  each 
of  his  children  the  responsibility  of  determining  the 
separated  portion  in  the  light  of  intelligence,  conscience, 
and  the  promptings  of  love. 

4.  That  the  love  of  Christ  constrains  the  true  Chris- 
tian to  adopt  a  standard  of  giving  higher  than  that  of 
pagan  or  patriarch  or  Hebrew  under  the  law. 

5.  That,  in  determining  the  proportion  to  give,  there 
should  be  due  regard  to  the  requirements  of  simple 
wholesome  living  and  also  of  reasonable  saving  to  meet 
future  obligations;  and  out  of  the  remainder  the  giving 
portion  should  be  supplemented. 

6.  That  those  who  thus  honor  God  by  generous  giving 
may  confidently  count  upon  blessing  here  and  now,  and 
as  their  income  increases  the  proportion  set  apart  for 
giving  should  steadily  increase. 


130  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

According  as  a  man  follows  or  fails  to  follow  the 
divine  principles  in  determining  the  proportion  to  give, 
as  an  offering  unto  God,  he  becomes  in  reality  a  true 
partner  of  Christ,  or  a  mere  legalist,  or,  it  may  be,  a 
defaulter,  robbing  God. 

POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

VI.   Proportioning 

Aim:     To  show  that  according  as  one  proportions  his  outlay 

with  due  regard  to  his  giving  as  well  as  to  his  living  and 

saving,  he  proves  himself  to  be  a  true  partner 

with  Christ  or  only  a  legalist. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

What  is  the  earhest  evidence  as  to  the  place  God  purposes  to 
have  giving  occupy  in  w^orship? 

What  opposite  positions  are  taken  as  to  the  obligation  to  tithe 
under  the  Nevir  Dispensation? 

What  the  effect  of  differing  as  to  this  question? 

How  can  life  assets  other  than  those  which  can  be  converted 
into  money  be  tithed? 

How  can  money  that  is  devoted  to  the  Lord  be  distinguished 
from  other  funds? 

Trace  the  progressive  steps  by  which  the  race  has  been  led 
up  to  higher  conceptions  of  giving. 

How  do  conditions  under  a  Christian  democracy  differ  from 
those  under  the  Hebrew  theocracy? 

What  difference,  if  any,  between  the  basis  of  the  tithe  and 
that  of  the  Sabbath? 

What  place  has  tithing  in  the  New  Testament? 

How  does  obligation  under  the  New  Covenant  compare  with 
that  under  the  Old? 

What  degrees  of  growth  in  the  grace  of  giving  appear  in  the 
New  Testament? 


PROPORTIONING  131 

How  do  you  interpret  the  inclusive  principle  which  Jesus  laid 
down  for  his  disciples  as  to  their  possessions? 

How  does  what  I  am  receiving  from  God  compare  with  the 
income  of  the  men  of  former  times  who  devoted  one  tenth  or 
more? 

If  I  do  not  give  as  much  as  they,  what  is  the  inference? 

How  can  I  arrive  at  a  true  proportion  for  my  giving? 

If  no  uniform  proportion  is  fixed,  how  may  one  safeguard 
against  indefiniteness  and  insincerity  of  consecration? 

What  advantage  is  there  to  the  giver  in  himself  determining 
the  application  of  what  he  gives  through  the  church? 

How  can  we  regulate  the  proportion  applied  to  church  support 
and  benevolences  respectively? 

How  should  we  distribute  the  benevolence  portion? 

Is  the  proportion  a  just  one  between  my  income  and  my 
expenditure?  Between  my  expenditure,  my  saving,  and  my 
giving? 

What  conclusions  do  you  draw  from  the  Scripture  teaching 
on  the  subject? 

Problems  from  Life 

I.  In  a  group  of  believers  in  Brazil  was  a  woman  who  had 
been  deserted  by  her  husband  because  she  served  Christ.  She 
had  an  aged  mother  and  a  little  boy  to  support.  They  owned  a 
few  acres  of  sugar  bottom,  a  few  orange  trees,  and  had  the 
right  to  plant  a  patch  of  corn  and  beans  at  any  place  within  five 
miles  of  the  dry  uplands.  She  came  shyly  to  tell  her  pastor  that 
she  had  resolved  to  tithe  her  income.  Being  unable  to  work  her 
sugar  ground,  she  paid  one  half  of  the  growing  cane  to  the  man 
who  worked  it  and  then  one  half  of  her  share  of  the  cane  to  the 
man  who  made  it  into  sugar.  She  would  not  distil  it  into  rum. 
The  first  year  she  refined  her  sugar,  which,  being  reduced  finally 
lo  the  crop  of  an  eighth  of  an  acre,  amounted  to  some  300 
pounds.  She  kept  it  by  her  until  a  little  later,  when  she  sold 
it  to  a  man  who  came  looking  for  sugar  in  her  valley,  where 
the  only  article  for  sale  was  rum.  She  rigorously  tithed  the  corn 
and  beans  and  the  rice  from  a  little  of  the  swamp  land  by  the 
brook  on  which  she  lived.  When  her  oranges  ripened,  she  re- 
-solved  to  tithe  them,  on  the  plan  of  giving  the  first  load  she  sold 


132  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

to  the  Lord.  She  sold  twelve  mule  loads,  the  first  and  eleventh 
of  which  she  gave  as  her  tithe.  At  the  end  of  her  first  year  she 
handed  to  her  pastor  a  larger  sum  of  money  for  church  support 
than  any  other  member  of  the  church;  and  there  were  men 
in  that  church  who  were  worth  at  least  fifty  thousand  dollars. 
After  several  years,  when  the  church  edifice  was  completed,  the 
pastor,  who  was  the  only  one  on  earth  who  knew  of  her  tithing, 
for  curiosity  summed  up  her  various  contributions  and  found 
that  only  two  men  had  given  more.  When  he  said  to  her,  "  I 
am  surprised  that  your  tithe  amounts  to  so  much,"  she  answered, 
"  I  am  surprised  to  find  that  I  have  so  much  left  to  use  for 
myself." 

What  surprises  you  most  in  this  woman's  case?  and  can  you 
discover  similar  cause  for  surprise  in  your  own? 

II.  A worked  his  way  through  college.  Afterward  sick- 
ness involved  him  in  heavy  doctors'  bills,  and  he  found  himself 
in  debt.  But,  being  convinced  that  he  should  give  to  the  Lord 
as  much  as  a  tenth,  he  treats  this  debt  as  taking  precedence  over 
every  other. 

Do  you  think  that  he  should  clear  off  his  debts  to  men  before 
giving  proportionately  to  God? 

III.  A  student  in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  on  being 
asked  by  another  his  plan  of  giving,  replied,  "  I  have  no  plan, 
for  I  have  no  money."  "  But,"  insisted  the  other,  "  you  cer- 
tainly ought  to  have  a  plan,  or,  when  you  become  a  pastor,  you 
can't  lead  others  to  give."  He  added  that,  after  carefully  study- 
ing stewardship,  he  had  himself  determined  to  devote  a  tenth. 
The  other  student  agreed  to  join  him.  Years  have  passed,  and 
the  latter  bears  this  testimony :  "  When  I  decided  to  give  a  tenth, 
I  had  absolutely  no  income;  and  one  tenth  of  nothing  is  just 
about  the  size  of  a  cipher.  But  the  next  Sunday  I  was  invited 
to  preach  for  the  first  time,  and  was  paid  $12.  After  deducting 
the  cost  of  my  journey,  I  took  out  a  tenth  and  put  it  aside  as 
the  Lord's  money.  From  that  day  I  have  always  had  money 
to  give.  At  times,  my  wife  heartily  concurring,  we  have  found 
it  possible  to  give  as  much  as  one  fifth,  and  no  other  money 
has  brought  such  satisfaction  as  that." 

How  would  you  apply  the  principle  of  proportionate  giving  to 
one  who  has  little  or  no  income? 


VII 
ACCOUNTING 

Make  your  ofiFerings  according  to  your  income,  or  the  Lord 
may  make  your  income  according  to  your  offerings." 


Books  were  opened;  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is 
the  book  of  life  (Rev.  20. 12). 

Render  the  account  of  thy  stewardship  (Luke  16.2). 

Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's ;  and  unto  God 
the  things  that  are  God's  (Matt.  22.21). 

Render  to  all  their  dues  (Rom.  13.7). 

If  ye  have  not  been  faithful  in  that  which  is  another's,  who 
will  give  you  that  which  is  your  own  (Luke  16. 12)  ? 


VII 

ACCOUNTING 

Daniel  Webster,  when  asked  what  was  the  greatest 
thought  that  had  ever  entered  his  mind,  repned,  **  My 
accountabiHty  to  Almighty  God."  "  I  believe,"  says 
Bishop  Fowler,  "  that  on  the  day  of  judgment,  more 
people  will  stand  condemned  for  the  way  they  used 
their  money  than  for  any  other  one  thing." 

A  Higher  Motive.  True  though  that  may  be,  yet 
it  is  not  the  main  incentive  for  Christians  to  keep  ac- 
count. We  are  not  driven  to  it  by  the  awful  fear  of 
punishment  hereafter,  but  rather  are  we  drawn  to  it 
by  the  joyful  privilege  of  partnership  here  and  now. 
,What  a  tribute  to  the  Christian  is  it,  that  he  is  trusted 
to  determine  the  proportion  of  his  giving!  The  state 
arbitrarily  fixes  the  rate  of  our  taxes  and  leaves  no 
room  for  the  exercise  of  free-will;  on  incomes  it 
graduates  the  amount  according  to  ability,  as  nearly 
as  a  scientific  classification  can  determine.  But  the 
heavenly  Father  deals  differently  with  his  children. 
He  lays  down  broad  principles  to  guide  them,  but  no 
hard  and  fast  lines  to  limit  them.  He  assumes  the 
generosity  of  gratitude,  the  loyalty  of  love.  Chris- 
tians are  put  on  their  honor  in  the  exercise  of  steward- 
ship as  to  their  possessions. 

135 


136  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Essential  to  Account.  How  is  it  possible  to  dis- 
charge one's  trust,  whether  it  be  looked  upon  as  stew- 
ardship or  partnership,  unless  one  keeps  an  accurate 
account?  Can  one  trust  merely  to  memory  without 
any  record  to  recall  what  amount  has  been  given,  or  to 
preserve  a  true  sense  of  proportion  between  his  per- 
sonal expenditure  and  that  which  is  set  apart  "  unto 
the  Lord "  ?  When  Malachi  raised  the  question, 
"  Will  a  man  rob  God?  "  (Mai.  3.  8),  he  might  have 
pushed  his  inquiry  further  than  to  ask  "Wherein?'* 
He  might  also  have  asked  "  Wherefore?  "  Is  not  the 
reason,  in  many  instances,  ignorance  rather  than  wil- 
fulness? Is  it  not  the  case  that  most  people  keep  no 
account  whatever  of  what  they  give?  Do  not  most 
of  those  who  keep  no  account  imagine  that  they  have 
given  more  than  they  have  really  given?  And  would 
not  most  of  them,  if  they  but  knew  how  much  they 
have  actually  given,  wish  to  give  more?  It  would 
almost  seem  as  though  a  good  many  people  mixed  up 
in  their  minds  the  number  of  appeals  made  to  them  to 
give,  with  the  number  of  times  they  have  given.  Some 
may  be  in  the  plight  of  Miss  Midgeon  in  The  Victory 
of  Mary  Christopher,^  and  for  much  the  same  reason. 
"  A  tenth  indeed !  "  she  said,  ''  I  think  Mr.  Randolph 
is  perfectly  morbid  on  the  subject.  Of  course,  I  do 
not  keep  an  account  of  how  much  I  give;  I'm  not  such 
a  Pharisee  as  that;  but  I'm  sure  it  is  much  more  than 
a  tenth.  Indeed,  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  I  gave 
almost  a  twentieth !  " 

1  Harvey  Reeves  Calkins,  The  Victory  of  Mary  Christopher, 


ACCOUNTING  137 

How  is  the  smug  self-complacency  of  contented 
ignorance  to  be  broken  through,  so  long  as  people 
deliberately  shut  their  eyes  to  the  facts?  Is  it  due  to 
laziness  or  lack  of  brains  or  wilfulness  ?  Are  they  to 
be  left  undisturbed  in  their  ignorance — whether  due 
to  carelessness  or  wilfulness — until  the  day  when 
"  books  are  opened  "  (Rev.  20.  12)  and  all  must  stand 
before  him  whose  eyes  are  "  as  a  flame  of  fire  "  (Rev. 
I.  14),  to  give  an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body?  How  much  better  to  get  one's  cash-book  ad- 
justed here  on  earth,  as  Zacchseus  did.  One  day  when 
he  met  the  Master  and  looked  into  those  searching 
eyes,  forthwith  he  began  to  submit  his  account  for 
audit :  ''  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to 
the  poor;  and  if  I  have  wrongfully  exacted  aught  of 
any  man,  I  restore  fourfold"  (Luke  19.8).  And 
Jesus  instantly  put  his  O.K.  on  Zacchaeus'  account. 
What  can  be  more  truly  a  '*  book  of  life  "  than  that 
in  which  a  man  does  his  bookkeeping,  and  strikes  the 
balance  between  the  income  and  outlay  of  his  money? 
What  so  clearly  reveals  whether  a  life  is  self-centered 
as  does  a  man's  cash-book? 

Perhaps  the  main  reason  why  so  many  people  fail 
to  keep  account  with  God  is  that  they  do  not  begin 
early  enough.  The  time  to  learn  that  lesson  is  in  child- 
hood. It  will  be  easier  to  keep  larger  accounts  later, 
if  the  practise  is  started  when  accounts  are  small. 
Why  not  include  the  subject  of  personal  economics  in 
the  curriculum  of  every  school? 

Dues  Rather  than  Don'ts.     An  American  mother 


138  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

has  devised  a  system  of  credits  which  makes  conduct 
a  basis  of  constant  earning,  and  at  the  same  time  trains 
the  child  in  accounting.  While  developing  character, 
a  child  at  the  same  time  can  be  acquiring  capital.  This 
is  quite  in  accord  with  the  Scriptural  principle,  that 
"  godliness  is  profitable  for  .  .  .  the  life  which  now 
is  "  ( I  Tim.  4.  8).  The  plan  permits  the  child  to  earn 
its  own  spending-money  while  it  obviates  the  need  of 
constant  correction.  It  develops  a  sense  of  honor  by 
requiring  it  to  fill  out  its  own  report,  censoring  its 
own  conduct.  Thus  it  affords  automatic  training  for 
conduct,  and,  likewise,  for  handling  money  and  keep- 
ing accounts.  Duties  are  assigned  and  credits  allowed, 
as  shown  in  the  chart  on  page  140. 

For  example,  if  the  child  has  taken  his  bath,  he  puts 
down  two  points  in  the  column  for  the  day;  if  he  has 
cleaned  his  teeth  twice,  two  in  the  next  line;  or,  if  but 
once,  one;  so  throughout  the  list  of  duties.  The  total 
number  of  points  for  the  seven  days  is  footed  up  at  the 
end  of  the  week.  A  perfect  report  should  show  50 
points  each  day  or  350  points  for  the  week.  If  the 
child  is  to  get  50  cents  a  week,  divide  the  total  by 
seven;  if  25  cents  a  week,  by  fourteen;  if  10  cents  a 
week,  by  thirty-five.  The  divisor  should  be  the  same 
each  week,  as  agreed  upon  between  parent  and  child. 
The  quotient,  or  result,  shows  the  amount  to  be  paid 
to  the  child,  as  the  week's  allowance. 

The  figures  suggested  in  the  chart  are  graduated 
according  to  what  habits  have  been  found,  from  wide 
experience,  to  be  most  difficult  to  regulate  in  children 


ACCOUNTING  139 

generally.  Items  may  be  adapted  to  individual  cases; 
some,  no  doubt,  would  wish  to  substitute  religious 
duties  for  some  of  those  given  in  the  chart.  A  blank 
sheet  should  be  given  the  child  each  Saturday  night  for 
keeping  the  record  for  the  following  week. 

If  it  is  objected  that  "  children  should  not  expect 
to  be  paid  for  being  good,"  it  may  be  answered  that 
it  could  not  be  otherwise  according  to  the  very  consti- 
tution of  God's  government.  "  Virtue  is  its  own 
reward."  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  sobriety  and 
industry  and  integrity  bring  prosperity.  "  He  that 
gathereth  by  labor  shall  have  increase"  (Prov. 
13.  11).  "In  the  house  of  the  righteous  is  much 
treasure"  (Prov.  15.6).  Then  why  should  not 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  family  likewise  be  re- 
warded ?  It  may  be  thought  that,  an  allowance  being 
adopted  for  the  child,  forfeits  for  failures  may  be  a 
wiser  basis  than  premiums  for  duties  done.  But, 
whichever  course  is  adopted,  it  is  needful  in  either 
case  that  a  faithful  record  be  kept  in  order  to  insure 
just  dealing.  If  the  child  himself  is  trained  to  keep 
the  record,  the  sense  of  honor  is  developed  and  at  the 
same  time  a  life  habit  of  system  and  accuracy  is  estab- 
lished. It  is  not  enough,  however,  that  income  alone 
should  be  thus  provided  and  regulated.  The  account- 
ing should  cover  outlay  as  well.  If  careful  note  is 
kept  of  money  spent,  there  is  an  automatic  check  upon 
self-indulgence. 


140 


MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 


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ACCOUNTING  141 

Facing  the  Facts.  A  certain  pastor  helps  his 
young  people  to  face  the  facts  as  to  their  spending 
and  also  to  compare  what  they  spend  on  themselves 
and  what  they  give  for  others,  by  providing  them  with 
a  card  such  as  that  on  the  following  page : 

Making  Out  a  Personal  Balance  Sheet.  It  is  im- 
portant that  all,  older  as  well  as  younger,  look  squarely 
at  the  facts  as  to  what  they  receive  and  what  becomes 
of  it.  To  many,  a  challenge  to  analyze  income  and 
outlay  will  come  as  a  rather  rude  shock.  They  have 
never  done  such  a  thing  or  even  thought  of  doing  so. 
Some  consider  it  too  much  bother.  To  others,  the 
amount  involved  seems  too  small  to  take  account  of. 
In  most  cases,  attention  has  never  been  called  to  the 
matter  at  all.  Few  realize  how  vitally  character  is 
affected  by  dealing  conscientiously  and  accurately  with 
the  separated  portion.  A  little  while  ago  a  retired 
business  man  accepted  that  challenge,  as  I  threw  it  out 
in  a  conference  of  church  leaders  in  which  he  had 
been  arguing  against  the  possibility  of  determining 
what  one's  "  net  income "  is.  When  he  had  gone 
home,  and  from  the  stubs  of  his  check-book  figured 
out  as  nearly  as  he  could  what  proportion  his  gifts  the 
preceding  year  sustained  to  his  "  net  income,"  he  at 
once  signed  up  a  declaration  to  give  forty  per  cent, 
thereafter. 

Of  a  Bible  class  of  forty  men  who  were  challenged 
to  make  out  statements  showing  their  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures for  the  preceding  year,  preparatory  to  de- 


142 


MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 


How  I  Use  My  Money 

This  card  is  for  your  information.     It  is  always  well 

to  know  how  one  uses  his  money.    A  comparison  is 

instructive.     Opposite   each  item  put  the  amount  you 

spend,  each  week,  as  nearly  as  you  can  figure.     Then 

total  the  columns  and  place  the  totals  below.     If  you 

wish  to  find  the  percentage  of  your  offerings,  divide 

the  "  Total  unto  the  Lord  "  by  the  Gross  Total.     If  you 

care  to  return  this  card  to  the  pastor,  he  will  appre- 

ciate it.     Please  send  it  unsigned;  he  does  not  desire 

to  know  your  income 

and  disbursements. 

Expenditure   for  Week   Ending 

...191.. 

Living  Expenses 

Giving 

Board  (or 

Church 

equivalent) 

Charities 

Clothing 

Medical 

Incidentals 

Self-Improvement 
Reading 

Total,  "unto  the 
Lord  " 

— 

Music 
Athletics 

Percentage  of 

Societies 

whole  income 

Pleasure 

Amusements 

Candy,  etc. 
Entertaining 
Automobile 
Saving 

Received 

Earned  myself 
Given  to  me 

Total,  Personal 

Total  Income 

Percentage  of 

~= 

whole  income 

ACCOUNTING  143 

termining  the  proportion  they  would  give  for  the  year 
following,  seventy-five  per  cent,  responded.  They 
were  to  send  these  statements  to  their  pastor,  signed 
or  unsigned,  as  they  might  prefer.  They  did  so,  and 
the  following  is  a  sample : 

ANALYSIS  OF  AN  ACCOUNT 

Income 
Salary $3,i20 

Disbursements 
I.   Living  Amount    Total  Per  Cent. 

Food 

Groceries   $364. 

Meat  72.80 

Milk,  Butter,  &  Eggs  . . .     142.88 

$579.68  .186 

Clothing    185.  .059 

Light  and  Heat  160.  .051 

House :  Rent  or  Taxes,  Telephone, 

Servant,  Laundry,  etc 254.  .081 

Incidentals 

Carfare 85. 

Christmas    50. 

Sundry  Presents  22. 

157.  .050 

Wife's  allowance  208.  .066 

Medical 

Doctor    15. 

Druggist    25. 

Dentist   20. 

Operation    50. 

no.  .035 

Recreation 

Vacation    50. 

Golf,  etc 49. 

Amusements 15. 

114.  .036 


144  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Reading 

Daily  papers  $18.14 

Magazines  5. 

Religious  periodicals 3.35 

$26.49  .009 

$1,794.17    .575 

II.  Saving 

Interest   $104. 

Insurance 

Life  $241.76 

Health  &  Accident 41. 

Burglary    13.50 

Fire  9.17 

305.43 

Building  &  Loan  564. 

Christmas   Club    250. 

$1,223.43    .393 

III.  Giving 

Church,  Sunday  School,  etc $  63.40 

Y.M.C.A.,  Temperance,  etc 39. 

$   102.40    .032 

Total $3,120.00  i.ooo 


Commentary. — As  comment  was  invited,  the  following  was 
offered : 

1.  He  is  evidently  very  provident;  his  provision  for  the  fu- 
ture, including  savings  and  insurance,  amounts  to  $1,223.43 — a 
little  less  than  40  per  cent,  of  his  total  income.  One  certainly 
is  justified  in  laying  by  for  "a  rainy  day,"  but  in  determining 
the  question  of  the  proportion  which  may  properly  be  set  apart 
for  this  purpose,  it  is  well  to  remember  the  words  of  our  Lord, 
"Be  not  anxious  for  the  morrow;  for  the  morrow  will  be 
anxious  for  itself"  (Matt.  6.34). 

2.  He  seems  to  be  less  generous  than  provident.  One  cannot 
but  be  struck  with  the  great  disparity  between  the  amount  de- 
voted to  the  church  and  other  benevolence  and  the  amounts  ex- 


ACCOUNTING  145 

pended  in  other  directions.  Recreation  alone  comes  in  for 
considerably  more  than  the  church,  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  and  all  benevolence  put  together.  Indeed,  the 
amount  expended  for  benevolence  is  less  than  for  any  other 
item,  excepting  only  medical  and  reading.  It  is  this  point  more 
than  any  other  that  challenges  attention  in  the  analysis. 

3.  The  wife's  portion  does  not  indicate  an  ideal  conception  of 
the  partnership  which  should  exist  in  a  family.  Why  should 
the  receiving  teller  be  regarded  as  almost  the  whole  of  the 
bank?  Why  should  the  man  have  the  disbursing  of  fourteen 
fifteenths  of  the  entire  amount  received?  Does  not  the  wife 
in  the  charge  of  the  home  do  her  part  toward  earning  the  family 
income  just  as  truly  as  the  husband  in  the  world  outside?  This 
is  a  point  upon  which  the  light  should  be  turned  more  and  more, 
if  there  is  to  be  a  solution  found  for  some  of  the  real  social 
problems  of  the  world. 

As  one  proceeds  to  study  all  items  of  expenditure 
with  a  view  to  making  it  possible  to  give  as  much  as 
possible,  it  will  be  found  desirable  to  make  a  budget. 
Here  is  a  suggestive  form,  graduated  with  regard  to 
incomes  of  from  $60  to  $200  a  month;  it  may,  of 
course,  be  condensed  or  expanded,  as  desired: 

A  PERSONAL  BUDGET 
(monthly) 

(The  figures  are  given  by  way  of  suggestion  only  and  subject 
to  revision  to  suit  each  particular  case  in  view  of  varying  condi- 
tions, as  to  size  of  family,  location,  etc.) 

Receipts 
Wages   (or  net  income  from 

business,  profession,  etc.)  $60.  $75.  $100.  $120.  $200. 
Other  Sources  *  5.  *  30.  * 


Total  Income  $60.      $80.      $100.      $150.      $200. 

*  No  "  other  resources." 


146  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Expenditure 
I.    Portion    Set   Apart   for 

Giving    $  6.      $  8.        $I2.        $20.        $35- 

Percentage  for  Giving  . . . 

Local  church  support  .... 

Benevolences  through  the 
church  

Local  charities  

The  poor,  etc 

IL    Living 

Food   24.        30.  32.  36.  45. 

Clothing  5.  6.50        8.  10.  15. 

House  (rent  or  house- 
taxes,  interest  on  mort- 
gage,  fire    insurance) ...       10,        14.  18.  20.  35. 

Service  (servant,  fuel, 
light,   telephone,    etc.)..        6.  8.  12.  14.  18. 

Self-improvement  (reading, 
recreation,  travel,  medi- 
cal)          5.  5.  5.  7.  10. 

Incidentals     (''Beware    of 

dumping")    2.  3.50        5.  8.  15. 

III.    Saving  (life  insurance, 

investment,  etc.)    2.  5.  8.  10.  18. 


Total    Living    Expenses    & 

Saving    $54-      $72.        $88.      $105.      $144. 

Percentage    Expenses    and 
Saving 

Farmer's  Budget.  Substantially  the  same  form  of 
budget  will  serve  the  purpose  for  most  men,  if  it  but 
includes  the  main  essential  items  of  food  and  raiment, 
with  certain  subdivisions  for  greater  convenience  of 
classification.  As,  however,  the  farmer's  conditions 
are  somewhat  different  from  others,  a  special  form 
which  was  worked  out  for  use  on  dairy  farms  in  New 


ACCOUNTING  147 

York  state  is  given;    for  stock  and  other  types  of 
farming,  it  would  need  to  be  adapted. 

FARMER'S  BUDGET 
(for  the  year  ending ) 

Cash  Income 

I.  Dairy 

Milk  checks  $ 

Other  dairy  products  sold  . . 
Dairy  stock  sold 

Total  $ 

II.  Poultry 

Eggs  sold  

Poultry  sold 

Total  $ 

III.  Farm  Produce 

Vegetables  sold   

Fruit  sold 

Grain  sold   

"Wood  sold  

Hay  sold 

Miscellaneous    

Total  $ 

Produce  Used  for  Food  and  Fuel 

(Market  Value) 

From  dairy   

From  poultry    

Farm  produce  in  general  . . . 

Total  $ 

Cash    and    Produce:    Income 

from  all  sources   Total  $ 

Total  Income $ 

Less  operating  expenses  $ 

Net  Income   $ 

Per  cent,  set  apart  for  Giving  $ 


148  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Expenses 

I.  Food  purchased  $ 

II.  Clothing  >  $ 

III.  Rent  or  Taxes  $ 

Interest  on  mortgage 

Insurance  on  farm  

Total  $ 

IV.  Self-Improvement     (reading,    travel,     medical, 
tuition,  etc.) $ 

V.  Incidentals    $ 

VI.  Operating  Expenses 

Labor $ 

Feed  and  seed  

Fertilizer 

Fuel,  light,  telephone  

New  equipment   

Repairs    

Depreciation    

Total  $ 

VII.  Giving 

Church  envelops $ 

Special  offerings 

Sunday-school 

All  other  benevolences 

Total  $ 

Per  cent.  Given   $ 

VIII.  Savings  (bank  deposits,  investments,  etc.)   . .  $ 
Per  cent.  Saved  $ 


Total  Expended   $ 

Farmers'  Testimony.    A  central  New  York  farmer 
writes : 

"When  we  began  tithing  some  years  ago,  we  realized  that 
farmers  have  no  stated  income.  We  naturally  looked  around 
for  some  plan  to  follow.  We  finally  concluded  that  for  us 
the  best  proposition  was  to  tithe  on  the  basis  of  the  previous 
year's  income.    Since  then  we  have  kept  a  strict  book  account 


ACCOUNTING  149 

both  of  sales  and  the  expense  of  production.  In  the  expense 
accounts  are  such  items  as  these :  taxes  and  insurance,  seed  and 
feed  purchased,  fertiHzer,  hired  help.  Taking  these  items  from 
the  gross  sales,  we  arrive  at  our  net  income.  We  do  not  charge 
interest  on  our  investment,  as  we  put  that  against  our  living 
taken  from  off  the  farm  and  the  house  rent.  We  have  pretty 
carefully  demonstrated  that  these  equalize  each  other.  Since 
paying  God  his  portion,  he  has  blessed  us  not  only  spiritually 
but  materially,  and  has  made  it  possible  for  us  to  give  to  him 
offerings  in  addition  to  the  tithe  each  year." 

Another  farmer: 

"  As  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  I  must  acknowledge  that  God  directly 
enters  into  and  is  responsible  for  at  least  ninety-five  per  cent,  of 
all  crop  production,  leaving  the  results  of  my  human  labors  not 
to  exceed  five  per  cent.  As  a  Christian  I  must  believe  that  1  am 
not  my  own,  and  as  a  farmer  I  have  every  reason  for  acknowl- 
edging my  stewardship  by  paying  back  to  God  at  least  a  tenth 
of  my  net  income.  I  want  to  be  honest  with  God  and  treat  him 
on  the  square.  I  can  readily  figure  out  what  my  income  is.  I 
can  estimate  our  living  gotten  from  the  farm,  keeping  in  mind 
that  God  wants  not  the  letter  but  the  spirit  of  the  law,  and  that 
abundant  returns,  spiritual  and  material,  come  to  those  who  from 
the  heart  hear  the  promise,  '  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance 
and  with  the  first  fruits  of  all  thine  increase.' " 

First  Charge  Against  the  Account.  In  working 
out  a  personal  budget  the  first  care  should  be  to  set 
apart  as  large  a  portion  for  giving  away  as  is  consistent 
with  necessary  outlay.  The  final  adjustment  of  ac- 
counts will  be  affected  by  many  considerations,  but  a 
definite  minimum  proportion  should  be  determined  in 
advance  to  be  sacredly  set  aside  as  a  first  charge  on  all 
income.  Ordinarily  it  should  certainly  be  not  less  than 
a  tenth.     It  is  a  libel  on  the  Jews  to  say  that  ''  a  Chris- 


150  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

tian  under  the  gospel  should  certainly  give  not  less  than 
the  tenth  which  every  good  Hebrew  paid  under  the 
Mosaic  law."  For  the  fact  is,  the  Jew  paid  for  his 
religion,  not  a  single  tenth,  but  more  nearly  a  third. 
The  tenth  was  the  pagan  standard.  But  then  that  is 
where  we  all  started  if  the  truth  be  told  as  to  our 
origin.  It  may  be  a  good  place  for  those  to  start  even 
now  who  are  not  equal  to  the  Christian  standard. 

Government  Calls  for  Accounting.  The  Income 
Tax  law  is  serving  as  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  the  people 
toward  stewardship.  No  other  nation  in  the  history 
of  the  human  race  ever  made  such  a  provision  as  the 
United  States  in  exempting  what  is  given  for  religious 
and  charitable  purposes,  up  to  15  per  cent.  This  as- 
sumes that  the  obligation  to  give  away  a  definite  por- 
tion of  income  is  to  be  generally  acknowledged  and 
generously  discharged.  For  the  proportion  suggested 
is  higher  than  the  tenth  of  other  days  and  other  peoples. 
While  it  sets  no  limit,  it  does  suggest  a  standard  and 
even  holds  out  an  inducement  for  giving.  But  without 
keeping  an  account  how  can  one  possibly  arrive  at  a 
proportion?  If  the  Income  Tax  is  put  upon  a  truly 
democratic  basis,  no  class  should  be  excepted.  Does 
the  farmer,  for  example,  object  that  he  cannot  possibly 
tell  what  his  income  is  until  his  crops  are  reaped  and 
sold?  He  is  referred  back  to  the  returns  of  the  pre- 
vious year  as  the  basis  on  which  to  figure  out  his 
obligations  to  the  government.  Let  him  do  the  very 
same  in  dealing  with  God,  who  sends  rain  from  heaven 
and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  his  heart  with  food  and 


ACCOUNTING  151 

gladness.  In  dealing  with  the  Lord  of  all  there  should 
be  no  attempt  to  take  advantage  of  concessions  such  as 
politicians  are  prone  for  various  reasons  to  offer  to  cer- 
tain classes  at  certain  times  by  way  of  exemption  in 
consideration  of  favors  received  or  expected  in  return. 
Net  Income.  Let  neither  the  farmer  nor  the  baker 
nor  the  candlestick-maker  take  his  living  out  of  his  in- 
come before  figuring  on  the  proportion  to  be  set  apart 
unto  the  Lord  to  be  given  away.  Rather,  let  each  one 
first  sit  down  and  estimate  as  nearly  as  possible  what 
can  be  counted  upon  as  the  correct  approximation  to  be 
estimated  as  the  net  income;  then  determine  the  relative 
portions  for  giving  and  living  and  saving.  In  deter- 
mining these,  the  major  factor  will  be  the  constraining 
love  of  Christ.  The  record  of  the  Christians  of  Mace- 
donia is  preserved  imperishably,  "  how  that  in  much 
proof  of  afBiction  the  abundance  of  their  joy  and  their 
deep  poverty  abounded  unto  the  riches  of  their  liber- 
ality. For,  according  to  their  power  .  .  .  yea,  and  be- 
yond their  power,  they  gave  "  (2  Cor.  8.  2,  3).  Such 
a  spirit  upsets  all  ordinary  proportions.  Lord  Bacon 
says :  "  Certainly  if  a  man  will  keep  but  of  even  hand, 
his  ordinary  expenses  ought  to  be  but  to  the  half  of 
his  receipts;  and  if  he  think  to  wax  rich,  but  to  the 
third  part."  Had  Lord  Bacon  taken  into  account  what 
ought  to  be  the  first  and  foremost  item  of  a  man's 
outlay,  his  giving,  he  might  have  modified  still  further 
the  proportions  which  he  suggests.  Reckoning  with 
expenses  of  living  only,  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  A  man  has 
need,  if  he  be  plentiful  in  some  kind  of  expense,  to  be 


152  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

as  saving  again  in  some  other;  as,  if  he  be  plentiful  in 
the  hall,  to  be  saving  in  the  stable;  and  the  like." 

None  need  be  at  a  loss  to  determine  what  the  net 
income  is  if  he  takes  the  completed  account  of  the  pre- 
ceding year  as  the  basis  on  which  to  compute  it.  Net 
income  is  the  total  income  less  the  cost  of  producing  it. 
To  the  man  on  a  fixed  salary,  that,  together  with  what 
may  come  to  him  from  investment  or  other  special 
sources,  constitutes  his  net  income.  If  the  minister's 
salary  is  supplemented  by  a  manse  or  contributions  in 
kind,  the  estimated  value  should  be  added  to  what  is 
paid  in  money.  The  man  who  buys  and  sells,  whether 
merchandise  or  stocks  or  any  other  commodity,  reckons 
his  profit  only.  The  doctor  would  deduct  from  his 
gross  income  such  expenses  as  office  rent,  conveyance, 
medicines,  depreciation  of  instruments,  and  medical 
works.  Other  professional  men  would  make  corre- 
sponding subtractions.  The  farmer  should  estimate 
the  value  of  the  products  of  the  soil  consumed  by  his 
family,  along  with  what  he  gets  by  barter  or  exchange ; 
and  from  this  he  should  take  whatever  he  pays  for 
hired  help,  taxes,  and  interest  on  the  land,  with  a  fair 
amount  allowed  annually  for  depreciation  of  stock  and 
implements. 

He  who  owns  his  home  should  add,  to  his  other  in- 
come, the  rental  value  of  it,  less  annual  charges,  pro- 
portioning his  giving  on  the  basis  of  this  total.  If, 
for  example,  A.  has  $2,000  a  year  income  and  rents 
a  residence  for  $500,  while  B.  with  $1,500  a  year, 
owns  a  home  the  rental  value  of  which — less  main- 


ACCOUNTING  153 

tenance  charges — is  $500,  the  income  of  both  men  is 
the  same.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  giving  basis 
of  each  would  be  $2,000.  But,  if  B.'s  house  is  mort- 
gaged, and,  after  paying  interest,  taxes,  insurance,  and 
wear  and  tear,  he  has  an  equity  of  but  $100  a  year,  he 
would  proportion  his  giving  on  the  basis  of  $1,600. 

The  Separated  Portion.  For  all  classes  and  under 
all  circumstances  the  part  to  be  given  away,  whatever 
the  proportion,  should  be  separated — preferably  de- 
posited in  a  separate  bank  account — to  be  treated 
strictly  as  a  Trust  Fund.  It  will  be  a  constant  source 
of  blessing  and  satisfaction.  A  friend  who  has  for 
years  done  business  in  partnership  with  the  King  told 
me  that  he  had  long  kept  a  separate  bank  account  under 
the  name  of  *'  The  Nazareth  Company."  "  You 
know,"  he  added,  "  my  Partner  did  business  in  Naza- 
reth when  he  w^as  down  here,  making  yokes  and  plows 
and  furniture  and  other  things  of  a  kind  that  would 
bring  good  prices.  So  I  like  to  draw  checks  for  him 
under  the  firm  name  now.  It  makes  it  all  very  real 
and  near." 

A  well-known  candy  manufacturer  who  built  up  a 
big  business,  began  in  early  life  to  give  away  a  tenth, 
later  increased  his  giving  to  a  fifth,  then  to  a  fourth, 
and  at  length  to  half  of  all  his  income,  along  with 
which  he  gave  himself  unsparingly  in  personal  serv- 
ice. Those  who  received  checks  from  him  found 
"  M.P.a/c  "  written  on  the  face  of  them,  these  letters 
standing  for  "  My  Partner."  When  those  near  him 
expressed  surprise,  as  they  sometimes  did,  at  the  large 


154  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

amounts  thus  given,  he  replied,  "  That's  not  to  my 
credit;  the  money  is  my  Partner's;  I  only  give  it  for 
him." 

William  Ewart  Gladstone  carefully  kept  an  account 
of  his  giving,  and  this  showed  that  his  gifts  to  good 
causes  aggregated  fully  half  a  million  dollars.  In  a 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  sons  at  Oxford 
University,  he  offered  the  following  suggestions  as  to 
the  use  of  money : 

"In  regard  to  money,  there  is  a  great  advantage  in  its 
methodical  use.  Especially  is  it  wise  to  dedicate  a  certain 
portion  of  our  means  to  purposes  of  charity  and  religion,  and 
this  is  more  easily  begun  in  youth  than  in  after  Hfe.  The 
greatest  advantage  of  making  a  little  fund  of  this  kind  is,  that 
when  we  are  asked  to  give,  competition  is  not  between  self  on 
the  one  hand  and  any  charity  on  the  other,  but  between  the 
different  purposes  of  religion  and  charity  with  one  another, 
among  which  we  ought  to  make  the  most  careful  choice.  It  is 
desirable  that  the  tenth  of  our  means  be  dedicated  to  God,  and 
it  tends  to  bring  a  blessing  on  the  rest.  No  one  can  tell  the 
richness  of  the  blessings  that  come  to  those  who  thus  honor  the 
Lord  with  their  substance." 

Keeping  Account  with  God.  There  are  business 
men  who  not  only  carry  religion  into  their  business 
but  likewise  carry  business  into  their  religion.  One  of 
these  is  a  manufacturer  in  central  New  York.^  Since 
setting  out  to  practise  proportionate  giving  he  has 
made  it  a  part  of  his  business  to  enlist  others  to  do  the 
same,   by  offering  to  present  a  small  leather-bound 

*  Harvey  S.  McLeod,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  whose  experience  as  a 
lad  is  referred  to  in  Problem  II  of  the  Stewardship  chapter, 
page  26. 


ACCOUNTING  155 

Beneficent  Account-book  to  any  one  who  would  join 
in  setting  aside  a  definite  proportion  of  income.  Dur- 
ing the  years  since  he  made  the  offer  he  has  sent  out 
more  than  two  thousand  ledgers,  and  he  now  has  a 
wide  circle  of  correspondents. 

Stimulated  by  his  example,  a  Pennsylvania  business 
man  began  some  years  ago  to  do  likewise,  and  within 
eight  years  before  his  death,  gave  away  623  ledgers  to 
those  who  subscribe  to  the  following  declaration : 


Believing  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian 
person  to  set  aside  at  least  ten  per  cent,  of  his 
gross  earnings  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  ad- 
vancing the  Kingdom  of  our  Master  and  the 
bettering  of  our  fellow  men,  I  have  opened  this 
account  with  this  purpose  in  view.  I  pray  for 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  all  my  deal- 
ings, and  that  I  may  have  the  blessing  of  our  God 
in  the  work.     2  Cor.  9.  6,  7. 

Signed 


In  the  back  of  the  ledger  is  this  sample  form  of 
account : 

1900  BENEVOLENT  ACCOUNT  CR. 

June    3  To  one  tenth  week's  salary $  .40 

"10  "      "       "  "  "     40 

"     17  "      "       "  "  "     40 

"24  "      "       "  "  "     40 

"     30  "      "       ''        of  gift I.OO 

$2.60 
July    I    To  balance  due  the  Lord $1.75 


IS6  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

1900  BENEVOLENT  ACCOUNT  DR. 

June    3  By  Church  collection $  -05 

3  "  Sabbath-school  collection 05 

5  "  Flowers  for  sick 20 

10  "  Church  collection 05 

10  "  Sabbath-school    collection 05 

12  "  Book  to  poor  girl 25 

17  "  Home    Missions 10 

24  "  Foreign    Missions 10 

24  "  Balance  due  the  Lord 1.75 

$2.60 

When  once  we  have  come  to  act  upon  the  principle 
that  God's  ownership  of  all  implies  our  stewardship  of 
all,  then  in  no  servile  spirit  of  bondage  but  in  the  glad 
freedom  of  partnership  we  will  delight  in  administer- 
ing every  dollar  of  our  income  according  to  his  will. 
"  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do 
all  to  the  glory  of  God  "  (i  Cor.  10.  31).  ''  It  is  not 
baseness,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  **  for  the  greatest  to 
descend  and  look  into  their  own  estate.  Some  fore- 
bear it,  not  upon  negligence  alone  but  doubting  to  bring 
themselves  into  melancholy,  in  respect  they  shall  find  it 
broken;  but  wounds  cannot  be  cured  without  searching. 
He  that  cannot  look  into  his  own  estate  at  all,  had  need 
both  choose  well  those  whom  he  employeth  and  change 
them  often;  for  new  are  more  timorous  and  less  subtle. 
He  that  can  look  into  his  estate  but  seldom,  it  behooves 
him  to  turn  all  to  certainties." 

A  "Conscience  Fund"?  Proportions  will,  of 
course,  vary  according  to  the  size  of  the  income  and 
the  demands  for  living  under  differing  conditions  and 


ACCOUNTING  157 

circumstances.  The  suggested  general  lines,  however, 
will  be  found  suitable  to  most  people.  The  very  neces- 
sity of  adaptation  in  each  case  is  part  of  the  education 
and  advantage  of  the  process  of  stewardship.  Large 
liberty  is  left  to  the  individuals,  and  in  the  process  of 
accounting  many  questions  of  conscience  are  sure  to 
arise.  A  man  may  find  it  more  difficult  to  give  a  tenth 
when  his  income  is  small  and  his  family  growing  than 
to  give  a  fifth  or  a  third  when  his  children  are  grown 
and  supporting  themselves;  on  the  other  hand,  a  man 
may  be  tempted  to  cut  down  the  proportion  of  his 
giving  when  his  business  has  increased  and  calls  for 
larger  capital  or  opportunities  for  more  profitable  in- 
vestments offer. 

The  man  who  cuts  into  his  giving  to-day  in  order 
to  increase  his  working  capital  may  persuade  himself 
that  by  so  doing  he  is  making  it  possible  to  give  more 
to-morrow,  but  he  is  dealing  dishonestly  with  God. 
Sooner  or  later  the  account  will  be  settled;  for  God 
keeps  books,  and  no  adding  machine  is  as  accurate  in 
casting  balances.  ''  Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not 
mocked."  Not  long  ago  a  friend  found  himself 
obliged  to  go  back  over  his  ledger  for  a  series  of  years 
to  square  up  his  giving,  which  had  somehow  been  ac- 
cumulating a  deficit  "  while  conscience  slept."  Why 
should  not  the  church  as  well  as  the  federal  govern- 
ment have  a  ''  Conscience  Fund  "  ? 

Doing  Business  v^ith  God.  There  died  a  few  years 
ago  in  a  town  of  one  of  the  Southern  states  a  lawyer 
quite  reserved,  very  successful.     He  was  known  be- 


158  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

yond  his  own  town  and  state,  and  had  won  distinction 
in  many  cases  carried  to  higher  courts.  His  kindness 
to  the  poor,  his  devoted  service  to  his  church,  and  his 
unwearying  efforts  to  bring  to  Christ  the  men  he  knew 
were  recognized,  but  it  was  only  at  his  death,  when 
there  came  into  the  hands  of  the  administrator  of  his 
estate  several  small  worn  account-books  running  over 
many  years,  that  he  was  really  known.  Very  common- 
place books,  the  entries  set  down  in  a  neat  and  careful 
hand,  with  here  and  there  a  fern  or  clover  leaf  gath- 
ered by  the  way,  they  contain  the  story  of  a  man's 
walk  with  God,  the  investment  of  the  talents  committed 
to  his  care.  There  are  two  accounts,  his  personal  one 
and  his  account  with  the  Lord.  On  one  page  he  set 
down  from  month  to  month  his  receipts,  regular  in- 
come, interest  on  stocks,  securities,  real  estate,  his  legal 
fees,  increase  in  values  of  investments.  Against  these 
he  set  down  his  expenditures.  Everything  was  put 
down — small  sums  for  fruit,  a  shoe  polish,  presents  to 
friends,  physicians'  fees,  traveling  expenses.  Almost 
always  the  first  item  on  the  page  for  disbursements  is 
the  tithe — his  debt  paid  to  God. 

As  one  after  another  the  small  books  are  examined, 
the  principles  on  which  this  quiet  man  ordered  his  life 
and  service  stand  out  upon  the  pages : 

I.  Man  a  trustee.  He  decided  early  in  his  career 
that  he  was  but  an  administrator  for  God.  Farms, 
banks,  stocks,  bonds,  salary,  his  legal  gifts,  energy, 
foresight,  thrift,  influence, — all  were  talents  entrusted 
to  him,  and  for  them  he  must  give  account. 


ACCOUNTING  I59 

2.  Strict  accounting.  If  he  must  render  an  ac- 
count to  God,  how  could  he  do  it  honestly,  if  he  had 
not  kept  one?  So  every  cent  spent  for  family  ex- 
penses, the  education  of  his  children,  pleasure,  and 
business,  was  put  down,  along  with  the  money  given 
to  God.  These  account-books,  which  he  never  knew 
would  be  so  carefully  read,  reveal  no  sums  spent  for 
luxuries.  As  his  practise  widened,  and  the  years 
brought  increasing  wealth,  the  gifts  grew  larger,  but 
personal  comforts  and  pleasures  did  not.  It  is  a 
record  of  self  kept  under,  that  God  might  gain. 

3.  A  plan  of  giving.  Running  through  the  first 
books  is  the  evidence  that  the  tenth  of  his  net  income 
was  regularly  given,  but  very  soon  the  proportion  be- 
comes larger — a  fifth  or  a  fourth,  as  if  growth  of 
joy  in  service  and  in  giving  had  steadily  kept  pace  with 
growing  wealth.  No  gain  in  values  failed  of  entry  in 
the  thirty  years  through  which  the  account  runs.  On 
one  page  there  is  an  entry  of  $884.73,  ^^  advance  in 
land  values;  another  of  $250,  a  rise  in  bonds.  The 
proportions  for  these  sums  are  entered  on  the  Lord's 
side  of  the  ledger.  When  he  found  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  that  he  had  already  given  beyond  the  standard 
he  had  fixed,  the  books  show  that  the  excess  was  not 
carried  over  as  a  balance  to  his  credit  in  the  next  year, 
but  was  left  as  an  overpayment  in  his  account  with 
God. 

4.  Thank-offerings.  Over  and  above  these  sums 
which  he  regarded  as  debts  to  God,  are  those  set  down 
as  thank-offerings.     One  item  is  $666.67,  a  thank- 


i6o  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

offering  for  some  unrecorded  mercy.  Again  and  again 
the  words  occur,  "  A  thank-offering  " — to  hospitals, 
orphanages,  foreign  missions,  ministerial  relief. 

After  his  death  the  same  clear  perception  of  the 
personal  responsibility  which  marked  his  relation  to 
God  through  his  life  appeared  in  his  will.  Among  its 
instructions  providing  for  bequests  to  charities  and  the 
church  are  these  words,  ''  I  hope  this  will  prove  satis- 
factory, as  talents  committed  for  God's  service,  and 
so  used  as  to  bring  at  the  end  to  each  one,  *  Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant.'  "  ^ 

According  as  a  man  keeps  account  with  God  he 
will  anticipate  the  day  of  the  Great  Trial  Balance,  and 
will  prove  himself  to  be  in  fact  a  creditor  here  and  now 
or  else  a  debtor  forevermore. 


POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

VIII.   Accounting 

Aim  :  To  show  that  according  to  the  accounting  of  a  steward,  he 
will  prove  himself  to  he  a  creditor  or  a  debtor. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

What  higher  motive  is  there  for  keeping  account  of  one's 
giving  than  the  fear  of  the  final  judgment? 

Why  did  Zacchaeus  begin  at  once  to  render  an  accounting 
when  he  looked  into  the  eyes  of  Jesus? 

How  may  children  be  most  wisely  trained  to  account  for  what 
they  get  and  what  they  give? 

^  From  a  leaflet  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  U.  S.,  Athens,  Ga. 


ACCOUNTING  i6i 

What  advantage  is  there  in  getting  young  people  to  note  what 
they  spend,  especially  for  pleasure? 

Work  out  as  nearly  as  you  can  the  percentages  of  your  living 
expenses  and  your  saving,  compared  with  your  giving  for  last 
year,  and  make  your  own  comment  thereon. 

How  are  those  who  do  not  receive  their  income  statedly — as 
for  instance  some  farmers — to  determine  the  portion  to  be  given 
and  to  keep  account  of  it? 

How  does  the  federal  income  tax  help  to  promote  stewardship? 

What  advantage  arises  in  setting  aside  the  portion  to  be  given 
and  treating  it  as  a  Trust  Fund? 

How  is  one  liable  to  be  misled  as  to  his  giving,  if  he  keeps 
no  account? 

How  is  net  income  to  be  determined? 

How  should  increment  on  invested  capital  be  treated  with 
reference  to  the  proportion  to  be  given? 

What  bearing  does  our  Lord's  warning,  "  Let  not  thy  left 
hand  know  what  thy  right  hand  doeth,"  have  upon  accounting 
for  one's  giving? 


Problems  from  Life 

I.  A  mother  found  under  her  plate  at  breakfast  one  morning 
a  bill  made  out  by  her  small  son,  Bradley,  aged  eight : 

Mother  Owes  Bradley: 

For  running  errands   $.25 

"    being  good 10 

"    taking  music  lessons   15 

"    extras 05 

Total  $.55 

Mother  smiled,  but  made  no  comment.  At  lunch,  Bradley 
found  the  bill  under  his  own  plate  with  fifty-five  cents,  and 
another  piece  of  paper  neatly  folded  like  the  first.  Opening  it, 
he  read: 


i62  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

Bradley  Owes  Mother: 

For  nursing  him  through  scarlet  fever nothing 

"    being  good  to  him    nothing 

"    clothes,   shoes,  and  playthings    nothing 

"    his  play-room    nothing 

"    his   meals    nothing 

Total    Nothing 

What  do  you  think  the  boy  did?  Can  you  suggest  how  best 
to  have  anticipated  his  presentation  of  the  demand  for  services 
rendered? 

II.  One  who  is  now  the  manager  of  a  telephone  company 
started  out  in  life  by  charging  off  one  tenth  of  all  income  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  it  away.  After  a  while,  he  assumed  an 
obligation  for  the  support  of  a  missionary  as  a  personal  sub- 
stitute on  a  foreign  field.  At  the  same  time  he  covenanted  with 
the  Lord  to  increase  his  giving  on  a  graduated  scale:  one  sev- 
enth on  reaching  $5  a  day;  one  fifth  on  reaching  $10  a  day;  and 
so  on,  steadily  advancing.  When  last  I  met  him,  he  quietly 
remarked,  "  I've  got  to  one  fifth  now." 

Mr.  Nathanael  Ripley  Cobb,  an  exemplary  young  merchant 
connected  with  the  Baptist  church  in  Boston,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  drew  up  and  subscribed  the  following  covenant: 

**  By  the  grace  of  God,  I  will  never  be  worth  more  than 
$50,000. 

"  By  the  grace  of  God,  I  will  give  one  fourth  of  the  net  profits 
of  my  business  to  charitable  and  religious  uses. 

"  If  I  am  ever  worth  $20,000,  I  will  give  one  half  of  my 
net  profits ;  and  if  I  am  ever  worth  $30,000,  I  will  give  three 
fourths;  and  the  whole,  after  $50,000.  So  help  me  God,  or  give 
to  a  more  faithful  steward,  and  set  me  aside. 

"  N.  R.  Cobb." 

What  would  you  consider  a  sound  basis  on  which  to  work 
out  such  a  scale?  What  factors  should  be  taken  into  the 
account  ? 


VIII 
INFLUENCING  OTHERS 
"Opportunity  with  ability  makes  duty.' 


Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  (Gen.  4-9)? 

None  of  us  liveth  to  himself  (Rom.  14.7). 

Whoso  shall  cause  one  of  these  little  ones  that  believe  on  me 
to  stumble,  it  is  profitable  for  him  that  a  great  millstone  should 
be  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  should  be  sunk  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea  (Matt  18.6), 

They  are  blind  guides.  And  if  the  blind  guide  the  blind,  both 
shall  fall  into  a  pit  (Matt.  15. 14). 

And  Jesus  entered  into  the  temple  of  God,  and  cast  out  all 
them  that  sold  and  bought  in  the  temple,  and  overthrew  the 
tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  the  seats  of  them  that  sold 
the  doves  (Matt.  21. 12). 

Even  so  let  your  light  shine  before  men;  that  they  may  see 
your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven 
(Matt.  5.16). 


VIII 

INFLUENCING  OTHERS 

That  life  counts  most  which  multipHes  itself  most 
highly  in  the  lives  of  others.  Desirable  as  it  is  to 
learn  how  to  get  the  most  and  the  best  for  oneself  out 
of  the  handling  of  money,  it  is  a  far  greater  thing  to 
extend  such  benefit  in  the  ever-widening  circle  of  other 
lives. 

The  Best  of  Heritages.  Not  long  ago  a  young 
friend  of  mine,  a  lad  of  fourteen,  died  of  pneumonia 
at  the  Hill  School.  On  his  desk  was  found  an  ac- 
count-book, showing  that  of  his  allowance  of  $12  for 
the  term  his  necessary  expenses  had  amounted  to 
$1.26;  besides  this  he  had  spent  only  40  cents  for  per- 
sonal purposes,  and  the  remainder,  amounting  to  more 
than  $10,  he  had  given  away — most  of  it  for  famine 
relief  and  war  work.  He  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
all-round  man  in  the  making.  A  normal,  healthy, 
happy  boy,  fond  of  sport,  a  good  golfer,  tennis-player, 
and  half-back  on  his  foot-ball  team,  he  had  given  him- 
self unreservedly  to  Christ.  His  heart  was  set  on  mis- 
sionary service  in  India.  Having  first  given  himself, 
the  giving  of  his  money  was  included  as  part  of  the 
consecration  of  his  whole  life. 

To  find  the  key  to  that  fine  spirit  of  unselfishness  we 

165 


i66  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

must  go  back  two  generations  at  least;  for  his  own 
parents,  and  theirs  in  turn  on  both  sides  of  the  family, 
had  been  conscientious  stewards  of  God's  bounty.  The 
lad's  father,  along  with  two  college  chums,  throughout 
his  course  in  college  and  theological  seminary,  had  de- 
nied himself  even  what  seemed  necessary,  so  as  to  pro- 
vide the  support  of  a  missionary  in  India.  Many  a 
night  was  spent  in  an  ordinary  day  coach,  instead  of 
taking  a  berth  on  the  Pullman,  when  in  his  young  man- 
hood that  lad's  father  had  traveled  up  and  down  the 
United  States  and  Canada  in  the  interest  of  the  Chris- 
tian Student  Movement.  Having  ever  since,  for  about 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  served  without  salary  on  both 
sides  of  the  globe,  influencing  others  by  his  example  as 
well  as  by  his  precept,  he  has  earned  the  right  to  say 
what  he  says  in  a  booklet  which  he  has  written  on 
stewardship : 

"The  spirit  of  our  giving  has  become  one  of  compromise 
instead  of  sacrifice.  Testing  our  stewardship  on  the  principle 
of  doing  all  to  God's  glory,  let  us  make  a  trial  balance  while 
we  are  still  in  possession  here  on  earth.  Suppose  we  take  time 
to  make  an  estimate  of  the  items  of  our  expenditure  on  paper, 
and  note  the  annual  cost  of  our  necessities  and  of  our  luxuries. 
Let  us  add  the  amount  we  spend  in  advancing  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  see  what  per  cent,  it  is  of  our  income.  When  we  have 
finished  the  list,  let  us  honestly  ask  ourselves  whether  we  have 
spent  all  with  the  thought  of  glorifying  God,  and  whether  we 
could  hand  over  the  account  to  our  Master  without  shame,  con- 
fident of  his  '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant.' " 

Tracing  the  influence  yet  another  generation  further 
back,  to  the  godly  grandmother  of  my  young  friend, 
we  get  from  her  the  key  to  the  secret  springs  of  that 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  167 

fine  stewardship.  She  tells  how  her  sons — of  whom 
there  were  three,  all  of  them  giving  their  lives  wholly 
to  Christian  work,  world-wide  in  its  outreaching  power 
— learned  this  pivotal  lesson  of  life.  On  their  birth- 
days they  were  always  given  as  many  dollars  as  their 
years,  and  were  taught  to  devote  a  tenth  of  it  to  the 
Lord.  The  youngest  had  given  a  tenth  of  his  cheer- 
fully every  year  until  he  reached  his  tenth  birthday; 
then  he  said  a  dollar  was  ''  too  much  to  give  away." 
His  mother  labored  with  him  patiently,  trying  to  show 
him  that  one  tenth  was  the  very  least  he  could  give. 
After  a  long  struggle  with  himself  he  finally  brought 
her  the  one  dollar  to  put  away,  and  the  fond  mother 
with  pardonable  pride  declares,  "  The  victory  was  won 
for  all  time.  There  was  no  more  trouble  with  him 
after  that,  and  he  has  ever  since  been  a  generous 
giver." 

Need  any  one  wonder  that,  with  such  influences  back 
of  him  and  such  principles  installed  by  his  father  and 
likewise  by  his  grandmother,  my  young  friend  rendered 
such  an  account  of  his  stewardship  as  that  left  behind 
on  his  desk  at  the  Hill  School  when  he  finished  his 
course  with  joy? 

The  Best  Place  to  Learn  to  Give.  The  home  is 
the  best  place  of  all  to  learn  the  lesson  of  Christian 
stewardship.  Childhood  is  the  time;  and  the  younger 
the  lesson  begins,  the  better.  The  family  should  be 
conducted  as  a  real  partnership  in  which  not  only  the 
father  and  mother  but  each  of  the  children,  likewise, 
have  rights  and  corresponding  responsibilities.     It  is 


i68  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

high  time  to  get  rid  of  the  fallacy  that  the  father  of 
the  family  is  the  sole  ''  wage-earner "  and  "  it  all 
comes  out  of  one  pocket  anyhow."  No  wonder  that 
women  gave  up  having  pockets  in  their  gowns.  But 
styles  have  been  known  to  change,  and  this  domestic 
wrong  shall  yet  be  righted,  suffrage  or  no  suffrage  so 
far  as  the  polls  are  concerned.  As  well  might  the  wife 
monopolize  the  praying  of  the  entire  family  as  the 
father  monopolize  the  giving.  It  is  a  miserable  sort 
of  home  economics  which  compels  the  housewife  to 
obtain  in  paltry  pittances  the  money  needed  to  meet  the 
payments  involved  in  providing  for  the  household  day 
by  day.  No  less  satisfactory  is  the  system — or  lack  of 
system — which  makes  the  children  mere  platters  to 
carry  to  church  or  Sunday-school  the  coin  to  be  put 
upon  the  collection  plate.  For,  so  far  as  the  child  is 
concerned,  that  is  not  giving  at  all  which  does  not  in- 
volve any  sense  of  possession  and  of  voluntary  appro- 
priation of  what  is  given. 

A  Home  That  Failed.  Of  the  parables  of  Jesus, 
that  of  the  Forgiving  Father  (Luke  15) — popularly 
misnamed  "  The  Prodigal  Son  " — is  richest  in  sug- 
gestion of  the  effect  of  property  upon  personaHty. 
The  story  abounds  in  economic  terms  such  as  "  give," 
"  portion,"  "  substance,"  ''  living,"  *'  wasted,"  "  spent," 
"  fields,"  "  house,"  "  swine,"  "  calf,"  "  husks,"  "  kid," 
"  servant,"  "  bread,"  "  ring,"  "  shoes,"  "  serve," 
"mine,"  "thine,"  "want,"  "perish,"  "hunger." 
The  father,  who  is  the  central  figure,  enunciated  the 
principle  of  partnership,  "  All  that  I  have  is  thine." 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  169 

But  the  family  was  not  a  cooperative  company. 
Both  boys  failed  to  enter  into  real  partnership 
with  their  father;  both  failed  also  to  fulfil  their 
stewardship  to  the  community.  The  family  property, 
which  should  have  been  the  bond  of  a  mutual  interest, 
proved  to  be  a  bone  of  contention,  which  severed  the 
home  ties.  The  elder  brother,  self -centered  in  covet- 
ousness  and  showing  the  unmistakable  marks  of  the 
miser,  needed  to  learn  how  to  spend;  the  younger,  self- 
centered  in  indulgence  and  developing  the  fatal  ten- 
dencies of  the  spendthrift,  needed  to  be  taught  to  save. 
Had  both  learned  the  lesson  of  giving,  they  might  have 
been  saved — the  one  from  hoarding  and  the  other  from 
wasting.  The  right  influence  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  at  work.  Where  was  the  mother?  What  kind 
of  influence  had  been  exerted  when  the  boys  were  be- 
ing trained?  Had  they  been  taught  as  children  to 
handle  money  and  account  for  it  ?  "  Give  me  "  is  the 
insolent  demand  of  the  younger ;  "  thou  never  gavest 
me "  is  the  querulous  complaint  of  the  elder.  The 
essence  of  the  latter's  sin  is  against  his  brother;  that  of 
the  former  is  primarily  against  the  father. 

A  Real  Cooperative  Society.  I  once  visited  a 
home  in  the  Middle  West  where  for  years  past  there 
has  been  carried  out  a  cooperative  plan  which  might 
well  be  reproduced  in  many  another  home.  When  the 
father  receives  the  wage,  he  gathers  the  whole  family 
around  the  dining-room  table  and  divides  to  each  a 
portion,  according  to  a  carefully  graduated  scale.  Cor- 
responding to  this  right  there  are  responsibilities  as- 


I70  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

signed  to  each  one  of  the  family  circle.  The  boy  is  in 
charge  of  the  heating  of  the  house;  he  buys  and  puts 
in  the  coal  and  cares  for  the  furnace.  The  daughter 
shares  with  her  mother  the  domestic  work  of  the  home 
out  of  school  hours.  When  the  month's  pay  is  re- 
ceived, each  and  all  put  aside  a  definite  proportion  for 
giving.  After  more  than  half  a  dozen  years,  the 
father  of  that  family  in  reply  to  my  inquiry  states, 
that  ''  the  plan  holds  as  when  you  were  here.  Salary 
has  advanced  another  $300  a  year  (which  is  in  line 
with  the  terms  of  the  contract  of  our  Father).  The 
house  which  we  then  rented  is  now  our  own.  We 
have  insurance  which  would  yield  $7,000  in  case  of  my 
death  by  ordinary  cause,  or  $9,000  if  by  accident.'' 
For  ten  years  now  the  gifts  of  that  family  have  ranged 
from  $400  to  $550  a  year,  according  to  circumstances, 
aggregating  for  the  whole  period  over  $5,000,  which 
is  fully  one  third  of  the  entire  income.  The  influence 
of  the  personal  example  has  extended  to  a  circle  of 
fellow  railway  employees,  who  have  combined  together 
to  support  missionary  work  at  home  and  abroad, 
amounting  in  all  to  $10,163.54  in  the  decade.  If  the 
influence  of  one  Christian  man,  of  one  family,  can 
widen  like  that,  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth  by  the 
application  of  Scriptural  principles  of  stewardship, 
without  any  organization  whatever,  what  cannot  be 
accomplished  by  installing  these  same  principles  in  the 
life  of  an  entire  church  and  of  many  churches? 

The  Church  Responsible.    The  church  has  a  large 
function  to  fulfil  in  developing  the  grace  of  giving.     It 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  171 

is  the  family  magnified  many  fold — and  much  more 
than  that — and  in  view  of  the  very  large  and  vital  part 
that  stewardship  has  in  the  molding  of  character,  the 
church  should  give  a  leading  place  in  all  its  program  to 
instilling  the  principles  of  proportionate  as  well  as  sys- 
tematic giving  in  the  lives  of  all  its  members,  younger 
and  older.     Some  churches  are  doing  so. 

Make  a  Survey.  Take  the  experience  of  one, 
which  with  615  members  and  a  budget  of  $5,000  has 
recently  been  doing  a  valuable  piece  of  laboratory  work 
in  cultivating  stewardship.  At  the  outset  a  careful 
survey  of  the  giving  power  of  the  church  was  made. 
This  showed : 

1.  That  less  than  11  per  cent,  of  the  members  con- 
tribute over  82  per  cent,  of  the  whole  amount. 

2.  That  those  who  give  most  generously  are  pro- 
portionate givers. 

3.  That  the  proportionate  givers  are  the  most  reg- 
ular worshipers,  and  that  those  who  give  generously 
also — as  a  rule — pray  as  well  as  worship. 

4.  That  practically  all  who  attend  the  prayer-meet- 
ing are  proportionate  givers. 

With  these  facts  in  view  plans  were  initiated  to 
enlist  the  members  to  give  proportionately  as  well  as 
systematically. 

A  Program.  Another  church  has  pursued  the  fol- 
lowing program : 

1.  Once  each  month  the  pastor  preaches  on  some 
phase  of  stewardship. 

2.  Following  up  the  sermon,  a  carefully  selected 
pamphlet  is  placed  in  each  home  of  the  congregation. 


172  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

3.  Every  one  in  the  church  is  furnished  a  card  on 
which  to  fill  out  the  various  items,  showing  "  How  I 
Use  My  Money  "  and  summing  up  so  as  to  bring  out 
the  contrast  between  '*  Total  for  Myself  "  and  *'  Total 
unto  the  Lord."     (See  page  142.) 

4.  A  Christian  Stewardship  enrolment  card  is  pre- 
sented, with  a  view  to  signing  up  those  who  have  come 
to  a  conviction  such  as  would  lead  them  habitually  to 
set  apart  a  definite  portion  of  their  income. 

All  this  is  preparatory  to  the  annual  Every  Member 
Canvass,  when  every  one  in  the  church  is  visited  at 
home  with  a  view  to  registering  subscriptions  for  both 
local  church  support  and  benevolences. 

Begin  vAth  the  Young.  The  most  promising  field 
for  cultivating  stewardship  is  among  the  young.  The 
Sunday-school  and  the  young  people's  society  afford 
fertile  ground  for  applying  stewardship  principles.  In 
one  Sunday-school,  after  a  talk  on  Giving  with  per- 
sonal testimony  as  to  the  blessing  which  results  in 
spiritual  joy,  assurance  in  prayer,  and  a  real  sense  of 
partnership  with  God,  the  president  of  the  county  bank 
rose  and  said,  ''  I  see  this  matter  in  a  new  light,  and 
pledge  myself  henceforth  to  give  proportionately." 
The  opportunity  was  then  extended  to  all,  and  forty- 
four  arose  in  token  of  their  purpose;  among  them  were 
two  entire  classes  of  boys  and  young  men,  also  a 
lawyer,  a  dentist,  a  physician,  and  the  leader  of  the 
Sunday-school  orchestra.  Fifty  Beneficent  Account- 
books  were  ordered.^ 

^  See  pages  154,  155. 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  173 

Christian  Stewardship  Movement.  The  fulness 
of  time  is  now  come  for  a  Christian  stewardship  move- 
ment in  which  the  various  communions  shall  all  unite 
for  a  nation-wide  propaganda.  Through  the  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement  the  leaders  of  practically  all  the 
Protestant  evangelical  churches  are  already  agreed 
upon  a  statement  of  basic  principles  and  a  form  of 
enrolment.  Much  valuable  literature  is  being  devel- 
oped which  is  available  through  the  denominational 
and  interdenominational  agencies. 

In  some  sections  of  the  church,  curricula  on  the  sub- 
ject of  stewardship  as  well  as  missions  are  available  or 
are  in  course  of  preparation,  adapted  to  each  depart- 
ment of  the  Sunday-school  and  the  other  organizations 
of  the  local  church. 

Prize  Essay  Competition.  The  study  of  steward- 
ship is  being  stimulated  by  offering  prizes  for  the  best 
essays  on  the  subject  written  by  pastors  and  other 
church  officers,  theological  students,  and  young  people 
in  the  Sunday-school  and  young  people's  societies. 
Hundreds  of  essays  have  been  written  and  more  are 
in  course  of  preparation.  Thus  much  constructive 
thought  is  being  developed  with  far-reaching  reflex 
effects.  The  air  is  electric  with  powerful  currents 
which  need  only  to  be  harnessed  in  order  to  move  the 
church  out  to  new  achievements  and  a  new  spiritual 
awakening. 

Steps  to  Take.  The  following  steps  are  suggested 
as  a  means  of  establishing  the  practise  of  Stewardship 
in  a  church : 


174  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

1.  Make  a  survey  of  the  membership : 

( 1 )  To  learn  who  are  already  giving  propor- 

tionately; 

(2)  To  get  each  one  to  note  for.  his  own 

guidance  how  much  he  has  given  for 
religious  and  charitable  purposes  the 
past  year  as  compared  with  income; 
likewise,  what  was  expended  for  liv- 
ing and  what  was  saved,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  given. 

2.  Distribute  literature  on  the  subject,  selecting  it 
with  care  and  delivering  a  copy  in  each  home,  accom- 
panied by  a  letter  from  the  pastor.  (See  list  of  pam- 
phlets on  pages  189,  190.) 

3.  Study  the  Scriptural  teaching  as  to  stewardship : 

(i)  In  a  series  of  mid-week  prayer-meetings, 
carefully  planned  so  as  to  present  per- 
sonal experience; 

(2)  In  study  circles,  men's  Bible  classes,  or 
discussion  groups,  using  a  text-book 
such  as  this  one. 

4.  Have  a  special  sermon  or  series  of  sermons 
preached,  leading  up  definitely  to  enrolment. 

5.  After  presenting  the  case  in  an  inspirational  way, 
test  the  response,  as  you  would  get  the  verdict  of  a 
jury,  by  putting  these  two  questions  to  a  rising  vote : 

(i)  Who  are  already  giving  a  definite  pro- 
portion?    (Have  these  remain  stand- 

(2)    Who  will  join  in  doing  so? 

6.  Sign  up  then  and  there  those  who  are  ready  to 
subscribe  to  a  declaration  such  as  the  following,  which 
can  be  obtained  from  denominational  and  interdenomi- 
national headquarters : 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  175 

The  Fellowship  of  Stewardship 
Principles 

1.  God  is  the  owner  of  all  things. 

2.  Man  is  a  steward  and  must  give  account  for  all  that  is 
entrusted  to  him. 

3.  God's  ownership  and  man's  stewardship  ought  to  be  ac- 
knowledged by  setting  apart,  as  an  act  of  worship,  a  separated 
portion.^ 

4.  The  separated  portion  is  to  be  administered  for  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  the  balance  treated  as  no  less  a  trust. 

Enrolment 
I  accept  these  principles  and  will  set  apart  a  definite  portion 
(        per  cent.)   of  my  income  to  administer   for  the  kingdom 
of  God. 


Name. .. 
Address. 


(Date) ,  19... 

(The  foregoing  to  be  retained  by  the  signer) 

(A  duplicate  of  the  above  form  to  be  turned  in  to  the  Pastor  ©r 
other  leader  appointed  for  this  purpose) 

7.  Bring  the  signers  together  occasionally  for  con- 
ference and  prayer  with  a  view  to  securing  concert  of 
action  in  propagating  Stewardship  principles.  With 
practically  no  additional  organization,  the  movement 
may  be  extended  through  the  regular  services  and 
existing  societies  of  the  church,  until  the  entire  mem- 
bership is  included  in  this  goodly  fellowship. 

Features  of  the  Fellowship.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  proposal  involves  practically  no  additional  organi- 

^  Most  proportionate  givers  with  moderate  incomes  begin  with  a  tenth 
as  a  Scriptural  and  reasonable  starting-point.  Those  with  larger  means 
should  begin  with  a  larger  proportion  and  keep  increasing  the  proportion 
as  income  increases.  The  Federal  Income  Tax  Law  exempts  up  to  15  per 
cent,   given  to  organizations  operated  exclusively  for  religion,  charity,  etc. 


176  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

zation.  Rather  is  it  a  platform  of  Scriptural  prin- 
ciples upon  which  those  who  are  willing  to  practise 
proportionate  giving  can  strengthen  each  other's  hands. 
The  regular  services  should  be  utilized,  rather  than 
multiply  meetings.  And  thorough  study  of  steward- 
ship should  be  carried  on  in  the  Sunday-school  and  in 
study  classes.  An  arrangement  is  being  adopted  by 
many  churches  which  unifies  the  organizations  so  as 
to  have  them  meet  weekly  on  the  same  day,  constitut- 
ing a  School  for  Missionary  and  Benevolent  Educa- 
tion, for  a  term  of  six  to  twelve  weeks  before  Christ- 
mas and  a  similar  term  after  New  Year's.  In  some 
sections  Sunday  evening  is  devoted  to  this  purpose;  in 
others,  the  mid-week  prayer-meeting  is  made  the  focal 
point  to  which  the  several  organizations  are  articu- 
lated. The  Women's  Societies  meet  early  in  the  after- 
noon; committee  meetings  are  held  from  five  to  six 
o'clock;  then  supper  in  common  for  the  whole  church- 
membership,  at  a  nominal  price;  followed  by  an  enter- 
taining missionary  presentation,  dramatic  or  otherwise, 
for  a  half  hour;  then  all  separate  into  classes  for  study, 
with  a  variety  of  elective  courses,  in  the  Bible,  Mis- 
sions, or  Stewardship;  finally  all  come  together  in  a 
devotional  service  for  intercession.  Into  such  a  scheme 
the  Fellowship  of  Stewardship  fits  most  appropriately, 
being  included  in  one  or  more  of  the  Study  Groups  and 
occasionally  featuring  the  results  of  its  study,  in  the 
way  of  charts  and  other  exhibits,  in  the  after-supper 
presentation  and  in  the  prayer-meeting. 

The  Fellowship  does  not  lay  down  a  uniform  pro- 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  I77 

portion  for  all  givers  to  follow.  It  allows  large  lati- 
tude, but  it  illuminates  conscience  with  the  light  of 
Scriptural  teaching  and  by  implication  suggests  that 
most  Christians  under  the  gospel  should  start  with 
giving  not  less  than  Hebrews  under  the  Law  and  even 
pagans  in  a  still  earlier  period  gave. 

Put  into  Operation.  Although  the  plans  outlined 
in  this  chapter  have  but  recently  crystallized,  not  a  few 
churches  of  all  sorts  in  various  sections  have  put  them 
into  operation  with  reassuring  results.  One  of  these 
took  advantage  of  the  Christmas  season  as  an  oppor- 
tune time  to  give  effect  to  the  plan  of  the  "  Fellowship 
of  Stewardship."  A  card  was  issued  which  provides 
for  the  dedication  of  self,  substance,  and  service,  with 
definite  declarations  of  purpose  under  each  of  these 
divisions.  Under  that  of  "  Substance  "  the  purposes 
are: 

1.  To  contribute  to  the  support  of  my  church  and 
missions  regularly  and  as  God  has  prospered  me. 

2.  To  make  an  offering  at  the  communion  seasons 
to  the  deacons'  fund,  to  be  used  in  their  ministry  to  the 
needy  of  the  church  and  community. 

3.  To  enroll  in  the  ''  Fellowship  of  Stewardship  " 
by  which  I  agree  to  set  aside  statedly  a  definite  propor- 
tion of  my  income  to  be  used  in  the  work  of  the  Lord 
in  my  church,  in  my  community,  and  in  all  the  world. 
This  may  be  one  tenth  or  any  other  proportion  of  my 
income  which  I  decide  the  Lord  wishes  me  to  devote 
to  him. 

Another  pastor  issued  a  "  Service  Enlistment 
Pledge  "  to  his  people,  and  at  once  25  per  cent,  of  the 


178  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

congregation  signed  up.     The  pledge  contained  the 
following  conditions : 

I  hereby  pledge  to  give  into  the  treasury  of  my  church  at  least 
one  tenth  of  my  income  during  the  war,  the  same  to  be  admin- 
istered by  the  official  board  of  the  church  for  the  following 
causes : 

1.  The  necessary  local  church  support, 

2.  The  benevolent  boards  of  the  church, 

3.  The  army  and  navy  work  of  the  church  as  carried  on  by 

the  Y.M.C.A.,  Red  Cross,  etc., 

4.  The  famine  relief  work  of  the  church,  such  as  Assyrian 

and  Armenian  relief. 

Thus  with  wide  latitude  the  principles  are  being  ap- 
plied in  different  ways,  always,  however,  with  the  same 
result,  not  alone  in  the  inevitable  increase  of  gifts,  but 
— more  important  far — in  the  spiritual  quickening  of 
the  givers  individually  and  consequently  of  the  church 
as  a  whole. 

Not  long  ago  in  a  western  Pennsylvania  church  one 
Sunday  morning  an  envelop  was  put  on  the  plate  con- 
taining six  crisp  $50  bills,  with  nothing  to  indicate  the 
giver.  It  came  from  one  of  120  members  who  are 
known  to  be  giving  proportionately;  that  was  all  that 
could  be  ascertained.  But  it  is  significant  of  what  can 
be  expected  when  the  practise  of  stewardship  is  the 
rule  rather  than  the  rare  exception,  as  at  present. 

Let  the  Leaders  Lead.  What  is  needed  above 
everything  else  is  a  courageous  and  consistent  leader- 
ship on  the  part  of  the  pastors.  This  is  sadly  lacking 
for  the  most  part  at  present.  Not  that  ministers  are 
like  the  prophet  Samuel's  sons,  who   ''  turned  aside 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  I79 

after  lucre"  (i  Sam.  8.3).  On  the  contrary  most 
of  them  are,  as  Paul  enjoined  Titus,  "  not  greedy  of 
filthy  lucre"  (Titus  1.7);  few  are  "teaching  things 
which  they  ought  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake"  (Titus 
I.  11).  No,  it  is  not  ''the  deceitfulness  of  riches" 
(Matt.  13.  22) — unless  it  be  in  very  exceptional  cases 
— that  turns  our  spiritual  leaders  away  from  doing 
their  duty  to  develop  the  grace  of  giving;  but  too  often 
"  the  cares  of  the  world,"  due  in  many  cases  to  insuf- 
ficient support,  cut  the  nerve  of  their  leadership  at 
this  very  vital  point.  Many  a  minister  is  muzzled  on 
the  subject  of  Stewardship  by  church  officers  who  do 
not  hesitate  to  tell  him,  that  he  has  '*  no  business  to 
meddle  with  the  money  matters  of  the  church."  If  he 
is  fearless  enough  to  disregard  the  risk  of  "  losing  his 
place,"  he  will  make  it  unmistakably  clear,  that,  while 
he  is  not  concerned  to  know  what  any  one  gives  to  the 
support  of  the  church,  his  salary  being  involved  in  that, 
yet  when  it  comes  to  the  benevolences  the  case  is  alto- 
gether different;  for  one  of  his  primary  responsibilities 
is  for  the  spiritual  development  of  his  people;  and, 
since  giving  is  one  of  God's  means  of  developing  grace, 
he  cannot  without  incurring  guilt  remain  ignorant  as 
to  the  exercise  of  that  grace. 

But  at  this  very  point  comes  the  crucial  test  to  many 
a  minister  of  God.  Is  he  himself  living  up  to  God's 
standard?  Is  he  honoring  the  Lord  with  the  first- 
fruits  of  his  own  increase?  If  not,  how  can  he  with 
any  power  lead  others  to  do  so?  It  is  just  here  that 
Satan  gets  in  his  subtlest  suggestions. 


i8o  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

"  Corban."  "  Give  a  tenth  ?  "  said  the  minister  of 
an  up-state  church  to  a  fellow  minister  who  was  urg- 
ing the  obligation  of  proportionate  giving  as  incumbent 
alike  on  all.  "  Why,  man,  I  give  ten  tenths :  my  v/hole 
life  is  consecrated  to  God's  service."  When  the  an- 
nual Every  Member  Canvass  took  place,  he  had  it 
understood  that  no  visitor  need  call  at  the  manse,  as 
none  of  his  family  could  be  expected  to  contribute. 
*'  That's  what's  the  matter  with  our  church,"  after- 
ward remarked  the  church  treasurer.  ''  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  neither  the  minister's  son  nor  daughter, 
although  both  earning  salaries,  contribute  a  single  cent 
to  the  support  of  the  church  or  its  work  ?  "  What  else 
could  be  expected  with  such  an  example?  Being 
"  chips  of  the  old  block,"  they  set  up  essentially  the 
same  old  claim  of  '*  Corban  " — with  which  our  Lord 
dealt  when  he  said,  "  If  a  man  shall  say  .  .  .  That 
wherewith  thou  mightest  be  profited  by  me  is  Corban, 
that  is  to  say.  Given  to  God ;  ye  no  longer  suffer  him  to 
do  aught  for  his  father  or  his  mother;  making  void 
the  word  of  God"  (Mark  y.  11,12).  In  the  case 
cited  there  is  this  difference,  that  it  is  their  obligation 
to  the  heavenly  Father  that  these  children  default; 
though,  by  the  same  token,  they  may  yet  accord  the 
same  treatment  to  their  earthly  parents. 

To  all  such  might  well  be  applied  the  wholesome  if 
somewhat  caustic  treatment  administered  by  a  friend 
of  mine  who  leads  a  men's  Bible  class  in  St.  Louis. 
His  patience  had  been  sorely  tried  by  a  sanctimonious 
old  Pharisee  who  was  wont  to   freely  advertise  his 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  i8i 

complete  consecration.  One  day  when  the  question  of 
devoting  a  definite  portion  of  one's  possessions  to  the 
purposes  of  God's  kingdom  was  under  discussion,  this 
brother  said : 

"I  have  long  since  got  beyond  that  point;  all  that 
I  have  is  consecrated  to  the  Lord." 

"  Well,"  said  the  leader,  "  if  I  were  the  Lord,  and 
you  were  to  say  that  to  me,  I  would  say,  *  Fifty  per 
cent,  off  for  cash.'  " 

Undoubtedly  he  who  has  truly  made  an  unreserved 
consecration  of  himself  to  God  will  have  no  reluctance 
about  sacredly  setting  apart  a  definite  portion  as  the 
earnest  of  the  faithful  devotion  of  the  whole  life, 
whether  in  the  form  of  money  or  time  or  talent. 
When  the  leaders  lead  the  way,  the  flock  will  follow. 

Faithful  Dealing  Needed.  It  will  no  doubt  be 
necessary  for  the  shepherd  to  use  his  staff  to  bring 
some  of  the  wayward  sheep  into  line.  Thus  does  the 
Rev.  J.  B.  Gambrell  in  his  trenchant  tract,  "  Who 
Owns  the  Wool  ? ",  show  the  responsibility  of  our 
spiritual  leaders  for  faithfully  pressing  the  claims  of 
stewardship  upon  their  flocks : 

"  Shear  the  sheep  ?  Yes,  frequently  and  close.  The  pastors 
are  the  shepherds;  and  it  is  their  business  to  feed  the  sheep,  care 
for  them,  and  shear  them.  A  shepherd  who  neglects  to  shear  his 
sheep  ought  to  be  turned  off.  He  is  an  unfaithful  servant  of 
the  great  Owner.  Pastors  need  to  face  this  question.  They 
must  face  it,  for  the  time  is  at  hand  when  pastors  will  be  judged 
according  to  their  works, — not  by  their  dignity  or  their  preten- 
sions, but  by  their  works, — and  one  of  the  works  is  to  shear  the 
gheep. 


i82  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

"  But  the  question  has  two  sides ;  God's  side  and  our  side.  Is 
it  not  hard  on  the  sheep  to  shear  them  ?  Not  at  all.  It  is  good 
for  them  in  every  way.  If  sheep  be  not  sheared,  they  become 
unhealthy.  How  many  of  God's  saints  are  surfeited  with  the 
things  of  this  world !  Their  spirituality  is  smothered  by  a 
plethora  of  the  things  of  this  life.  Many  are  sick  because  their 
lives  have  no  outlet.  Their  affections  are  turned  after  their 
earthly  possessions  and  not  set  on  things  above.  One  of  the 
best  things  a  pastor  can  do  for  his  people  is  to  induce  them  to 
give  liberally  to  good  causes.  He  is  doing  the  best  thing  for  his 
people  when  he  brings  them  to  recognize  their  obligations  to  God 
in  his  financial  affairs.  So  important  is  this  matter  in  the 
churches  and  in  the  lives  of  the  people,  that  it  demands  special 
and  extremely  earnest  treatment.  Some  of  the  sheep  must  be 
cornered  and  crov/ded  before  they  will  submit  to  the  process 
clearly  taught  in  God's  Word;  but  they  must  be  sheared. 

"  The  question  takes  on  another  practical  turn :  '  Where  thy 
treasure  is,  there  will  thy  heart  be  also.'  This  is  Christ's  word 
fulfilled  in  every  life.  If  sheep  are  not  sheared,  they  drop  their 
wool,  or  the  devil  picks  them.  Alas !  for  the  waste  of  God's 
money  in  the  service  of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil ;  and 
this  to  the  hurt  of  God's  people.  Sin  costs  more  than  religion. 
Bad  habits  cost  far  more  than  the  most  liberal  giving  to  God's 
causes,  if  we  count  money  and  what  is  more  than  money.  Rob- 
bery of  God  is  a  horrible  and  undoing  sin.  Giving  to  God  has 
a  wonderful  power  to  bind  the  life  to  him." 

God's  prophets  of  old  did  not  hesitate  to  deal  uncom- 
promisingly with  the  question  of  a  man's  account- 
ability to  God  for  the  use  of  his  money.  For  a  man 
to  withhold  the  portion  which  God  required  to  be  set 
apart  for  purposes  of  religion  they  called  plainly  rob- 
bery ;  as  Malachi  puts  it,  "  Will  a  man  rob  God  ?  Yet 
ye  rob  me  .  .  .  even  this  whole  nation  "  (Mai.  3.  8,  9). 

James,  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  was  no  less  out- 
spoken: ''  Com*e  now,  ye  rich,  weep  and  howl  for  your 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  183 

miseries  that  are  coming  upon  you.  Your  riches  are 
corrupted,  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten.  Your 
gold  and  your  silver  are  rusted;  and  their  rust  shall  be 
for  a  testimony  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh 
as  fire.  Ye  have  laid  up  your  treasure  in  the  last 
days"  (James  5.  1-3). 

Those  who  will  sow  the  seed  of  Scriptural  teaching 
as  to  stewardship  will  surely  reap  rich  harvests  in 
due  season.  A  little  while  ago  in  a  new  mission  station 
in  southern  China,  near  the  border  of  Siam,  eight  non- 
Christian  men  appeared  one  Sunday  morning  just  as 
the  public  service  was  commencing.  They  listened 
eagerly  to  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  when  the 
collection  plate  had  been  passed  without  being  pre- 
sented to  them,  they  got  up  and  walking  one  after  the 
other  to  the  front  of  the  church  each  placed  an  offering 
on  the  plate.  Being  asked  afterward  whether  they 
knew  what  they  were  doing,  the  oldest  took  out  from 
a  cloth  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  which  he  said  he  had 
received  from  a  missionary  years  before  and  had  care- 
fully kept  and  studied  ever  since.  From  it  he  had 
learned  that  giving  is  an  essential  part  of  worship. 

John  Wesley's  Message.  John  Wesley  proclaimed 
the  message  of  stewardship  with  no  uncertain  sound. 
One  of  his  most  famous  sermons  made  these  three 
points:  "  Earn  all  you  can;  save  all  you  can;  give  all 
you  can."  A  farmer  is  said  to  have  listened  with  rapt 
attention  as  the  famous  preacher  unfolded  his  theme. 
After  the  first  division,  "  Earn  all  you  can,"  he  nudged 
his  neighbor  and  whispered,  "  I  never  heard  preaching 


i84  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

the  like  of  that  before.  Yon  man  has  good  things  in 
him."  When  Wesley  went  on  to  denounce  thriftless- 
ness  and  waste,  satirizing  the  wilful  wickedness  which 
lavishes  in  luxury,  the  farmer  rubbed  his  hands  in  glee 
and  thought  that,  what  with  accumulating  and  hoard- 
ing, surely  salvation  had  come  to  his  house.  So,  when 
the  preacher  had  finished  the  second  division,  "  Save 
all  you  can,"  the  old  man  grew  more  elated  and  ex- 
claimed, "  Was  there  ever  preaching  the  like  of  this?  " 
But  when  the  preacher  had  done  with  his  third  and  last 
point,  "  Give  all  you  can,"  the  farmer  exclaimed,  "  Aw 
dear,  aw  dear,  he's  gone  and  spoiled  it  all !  " 

What  John  Wesley  preached  he  likewise  practised 
right  royally.  Beginning  with  a  salary  of  30  pounds 
(nearly  $150)  a  year,  he  gave  2  pounds.  The  second 
year,  when  he  got  60  pounds,  he  still  lived  on  28 
pounds,  and  gave  away  32  pounds  (nearly  $160). 
When  his  income  reached  120  pounds,  he  was  living 
in  the  same  simple  way  and  giving  away  92  pounds 
(nearly  $460). 

When  he  died,  his  inventory  included  only  his 
clothes,  books,  and  carriage,  and  enough  for  a  simple 
burial.  He  had  given  away,  it  is  said,  in  his  lifetime 
over  24,000  pounds  ($120,000).  The  steady  increase 
of  his  income  confirmed  the  principle,  "  There  is  that 
scattereth  and  increaseth  yet  more"  (Prov.  11.24). 
"  He  that  soweth  bountifully  shall  reap  also  bounti- 
fully "  (2  Cor.  9.6). 

There  is  need  of  many  such  fearless  preachers  to- 
day.    It  should  not  be  left  to  the  Socialist  to  usurp  the 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  185 

place  of  spokesman  to  give  the  message  of  steward- 
ship. Will  the  church  prove  a  faithful  prophet  to 
teach  the  truth  concerning  it  to  the  waiting  world? 

Fulfilling  a  Prophecy.  Thus  will  be  fulfilled  this 
prophecy  of  Horace  Bushnell: 

"The  money  power,  which  is  one  of  the  most  operative  and 
grandest  of  all,  is  only  beginning  to  be  Christianized.  What 
we  are  waiting  for  is  the  consecration  of  the  vast  money  power 
of  the  world  to  the  work  and  cause  and  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ;  for  that  day  when  it  comes  will  be  the  morning,  so  to 
speak,  of  the  new  creation.  That  tide  wave  in  the  money  power 
can  as  little  be  resisted,  when  God  brings  it,  as  the  tides  of  the 
sea ;  and,  hke  these,  also,  it  will  flow  across  the  world  in  a  day." 

According  as  Christians  fulfil  or  fail  to  fulfil  this 
function  they  become  stepping-stones  to  higher  things 
or  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of  those  who  are  wait- 
ing to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 


POINTS  FOR  DISCUSSION 

VIII.   Influencing  Others 

Aim  :  Te  show  that  according  to  the  iniiuence  one  exerts,  espe- 
cially upon  the  young,  by  example  as. well  as  precept,  in 
regard  to  giving,  one  is  bound  to  be  either  a 
stepping-stone    or  a   stumbling-block. 

Questions  Suggested  by  the  Chapter 

How  should  the  family  be  regarded  in  relation  to  the  income, 
in  order  to  best  develop  the  character  of  children? 

Suggest  ways  in  which  a  child  may  best  be  enabled  to  earn. 

How  should  the  money  be  furnished  a  child  to  contribute  in 
church  and  Sunday-school? 


i86  MONEY  THE  ACID  TEST 

What  financial  training  of  my  childhood  helped  me  most? 

What  relation  is  there  between  the  giving  and  the  worship  and 
work  of  a  church? 

What  is  done  to  develop  proportionate  giving  in  your 
church?     In  the  young  people's  society?     In  the  Sunday-school? 

How  many  proportionate  givers  are  there  among  your 
members? 

If  the  member  is  not  known,  how  best  can  you  find  out? 

What  place  is  given  the  subject  of  stewardship  in  the  preach- 
ing you  hear?     Why  is  it  not  given  greater  prominence? 

State  the  essential  features  of  the  "  Fellowship  of  Steward- 
ship." 

How  can  you  most  effectively  help  to  establish  and  extend  it? 


Problems  from  Life 

I.  A  young  woman,  working  as  a  stenographer  in  an  office 
whose  manager  was  a  constant  advocate  of  proportionate  giving, 
was  led  to  begin  the  practise  by  setting  apart  a  tenth.  After  a 
while  she  was  surprised  to  see  how  much  money  she  had  avail- 
able for  giving.  While  realizing  new  joy  in  helping  here  and 
there  as  never  before,  she  found  there  was  a  steadily  increasing 
balance  in  the  sacred  fund.  Becoming  more  and  more  interested 
in  foreign  missions,  she  decided  to  contribute  to  the  support  of 
a  specific  object  abroad.  But  not  being  able  by  herself  to  under- 
write any  considerable  sum,  she  sought  to  get  others  to  unite 
with  her.  One  after  another  girls  working  in  adjoining  offices, 
all  of  them  on  small  salaries,  commenced  to  proportion  their 
incomes  and  joined  together  to  support  a  missionary  represen- 
tative in  Latin  America.  Most  of  them  sent  in  applications  and 
obtained  the  Beneficent  Account-book  referred  to  on  page  155. 
Now  there  are  twenty-three  self-supporting  girls  in  that  circle  in 
North  America  who  are  multiplying  their  own  lives  and  blessing 
the  lives  of  many  others  in  South  America  by  their  partnership 
with  the  Son  of  God  in  extending  his  kingdom. 

How  can  you,  likewise,  help  to  widen  the  circle  of  propor- 
tionate givers? 

II.  The  Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  when  pastor  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  City,  received  a  letter 


INFLUENCING  OTHERS  187 

enclosing  a  month's  wages  from  a  Swedish  servant-girl  just  be- 
fore the  annual  offering  for  foreign  missions  was  to  be  taken. 
She  wrote  that  she  had  been  making  the  offering  a  subject  of 
special  prayer  and  it  had  been  put  into  her  heart  to  give  this 
sum.  Lest  Satan  should  tempt  her  not  to  give  so  much,  if  she 
waited  until  Sunday,  she  sent  it  at  once.  When  the  pastor  read 
the  note  from  the  pulpit,  there  was  a  profound  silence,  and  the 
offering  that  day  was  doubled  by  the  example  of  one  girl's 
sacrifice. 

Two  men  who  had  come  over  from  New  Jersey  for  that 
service  walked  down  the  avenue  afterward  together  without 
either  saying  a  word  for  some  distance.  One  asked  the  other 
whether  he  could  lend  him  money  to  get  home;  then  his  friend 
confessed  that  he,  too,  had  put  into  the  offering  every  cent  he 
had  with  him.  Both  were  obliged  to  walk  to  the  ferry  and  find 
a  good  Samaritan  in  Jersey  City  to  assist  them  to  get  home. 

How  do  you  think  the  Lord  who  still  sits  over  against  the 
treasury  regards  such  an  offering  as  was  made  that  day  ? 

III.  A  prominent  Pennsylvania  manufacturer  tells  me  that 
in  his  youth  he  heard  a  Friend  at  a  meeting-house  near  Phila- 
delphia throw  down  a  challenge  which  he  declared  he  had  made 
publicly  hundreds  of  times  without  contradiction.  My  friend, 
likewise  a  Friend,  took  it  up  and  has  continued  to  repeat  it  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century  and  more  with  the  very  same  experience. 
It  is  this :  that  no  one  has  ever  failed  to  prosper  in  material 
things  who  has  faithfully  put  to  the  test  this  word  of  God; 
"  Honor  Jehovah  with  thy  substance,  and  with  the  first-fruits 
of  all  thine  increase;  so  shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty, 
and  thy  vats  shall  overflow  with  new  wine"  (Prov.  3.9,  10). 

Can  you  cite  any  exception  to  the  fulfilling  of  that  promise? 
Are  you  yourself  putting  it  to  the  test  and,  if  so,  with  what 
result? 


BRIEF  BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  SUPPLEMENTARY 
READING 


Books 

Single  Copy 

A  Man  and  His  Money,  Harvey  Reeves  Calkins. 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  New  York 

Christianizing  the  Social  Order,  Walter  Rauschen- 
busch.     Macmillan  Company,  New  York  . 

Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question,  Francis  Green- 
wood Peabody.     Macmillan  Company,  New  York 

Money    Mad,    Cortland    Myers.      Fleming    H.    Revell 

Company,  New  York i.oo 

Money :  Thoughts  for  God's  Stewards,  Andrew 
Murray.     Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  New  York 

Property:  Its  Duties  and  Rights,  Introduction  by  the 
Bishop  of  Oxford.  Macmillan  Company,  New 
York 

Stewardship,  C  A.  Cook.  American  Baptist  Publica- 
tion Society,  Philadelphia .10 

Stewardship  Starting  Points,  Harvey  Reeves  Calkins. 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  New  York 

The  Law  of  the  Tithe,  Arthur  B.  Babbs.  Fleming  H. 
Revell  Company,  New  York 

The  Sacred  Tenth  (2  vols.),  W.  Henry  Lansdell. 
Edwin  S.  Gorham,  New  York 

The  Tithe,  E.  B.  Stewart,  Winona  Publishing  Com- 
pany,   Chicago 

The  Use  of  Money :  How  to  Save  and  Spend,  E.  A. 
Kirkpatrick.    Bobbs  Merrill  Co.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


$1.00 


1.50 


1.50 


.25 


1-75 


.50 


I. GO 


7.50 


.50 


I.OO 


Pamphlets  * 


Single 
Copy 


Catechism     on     Christian     Stewardship,     R.     L. 

Walkup.      Presbyterian     Church     in     U.     S., 

Jackson,    Mississippi 

Confessions   of   a   Business    Man,    George    Innes. 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  New  York  .    .05 
Elements  of  Stewardship,  Harvey  Reeves  Calkins. 

Methodist  Book  Concern,  New  York       .       .    .03 

*  Add  postage,  if  ordering  a  single  copy  by  mail. 

189 


Per 
Hundred 


05         $1.00 


3.50 


I.OO 


190  BRIEF  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Single        Per 
Copy      Hundred 

Perpetual  Motion,  Stanley  White.    Hubbard  Press, 

Auburn,  New  York 03       $1.00 

Proportionate  Giving,  Robert  E.  Speer.     Hubbard 

Press,  Auburn,   Wew   York 03         i/X) 

The  Basis  of  Stewardship,  George  F.  Pentecost. 

Hubbard  Press,  Auburn,  New  York  .       .       .    .03  i.oo 

The     Divine     Law     of     Giving,     Richard     Duke. 

Methodist  Book  Rooms,  Toronto,  Canada       .    .05         2.50 

The  Jarring  of  Jacob  Shapleigh,  Harvey  Reeves 
Calkins.  Methodist  Book  Concern,  New 
York 03  I.oo 

The   New  Testament  Conception  of  the  Disciple 
and  His  Money,  Edward  I.  Bosworth.    Ameri-     " 
can    Board    of    Commissioners    for    Foreign 
Missions,  Boston,  Massachusetts       .         .       .  Free 

The  Opportunity  of  the  Hour,  George  Sherwood 
Eddy.  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  New 
York 05         2.50 

The  Scriptures  on  Stewardship,  Compiled  by 
Henry  C.  Applegarth.  Department  of  Mis- 
sionary  Education    (Baptist),   New   York       .    .02  .80 

The  Stewardship  of  Life,  Joseph  N,  Shenstone 
and  J.  Campbell  White.  Laymen's  Mission- 
ary Movement,  New  York 05         2.50 

The  Victory  of  Mary  Christopher,  Harvey 
Reeves  Calkins.  Methodist  Book  Concern, 
New  York 15 

What  We  Owe :  from  a  Lawyer's  Standpoint, 
J.  P.  Hobson.  Presbyterian  Church  in  U. 
S.,    Richmond,    Virginia 05         2.50 

Your    Own    or    Another's,    David    McConaughy. 

Hubbard  Press,  Auburn,   New  York       .       .    .03        i.oo 


INDEX 


Acid  test,  money   an,   6,   53,   95.   96 

Accounting,    for    all    of    lite,    3;    for 

money,    essential,    136;    with    God, 

154.    155 

Acquiring,  two  ways  of,  41,  42; 
Scripture    relating    to,    45 

African  Christians  set  example,  loS, 
III,    112 

Almshouse,  Blackwell's  Island  in- 
mates,   their    gifts,    20,    21 

Arthur,  William,  on  the  first-fruits, 
57;   on   the  Jewish   tithes,    123 

Bacon,   Lord,   on   spending,   56,    151 

Baldwin,    Matthias    W.,    26 

Beneficent  Account-book,  154,  15s. 
172,    186 

Bequest,  a  way  of  acquiring,  41, 
42;   but  not  of  giving,    100 

Blacksmith  supporting  his  mission- 
ary   substitute,    20 

Boy's  bill  to  his  mother,   161 

British  Labor  Party,  its  platform, 
36 

Budget,  of  time,  51;  a  sample  bal- 
ance sheet,  143,  144;  farmer's, 
146-148 

Bushnell,  Horace,  his  prophecy,  185 

iBusiness,  conversation  of  men  of 
big,    12 

Cain  and  Abel,  their  giving  con- 
trasted,   115 

Calkins,  Harvey  Reeves,  property 
involves  personality,  43,  44;  The 
Victory  of  Mary  Christopher,   136 

Carey,  William,  his  practise  in  giv- 
ing,   118,    119 

Character,  affected  by  things,  8,  9; 
through  stewardship,  2Z,  24; 
through  acquiring,  42;  through 
spendmg,  53,  54;  through  saving, 
78;  through  giving,  94;  through 
proportioning,  122,  129,  130; 
through  accounting,  138,  154; 
through  influencing  others,  165- 
171,    180-183 

Child's    Allowance    Chart,     137-140 

Chinese    givers,     183 

Christian  stewardship  movement, 
173-177 

Church,  responsible  for  training  in 
stewardship,  170,  171;  should 
make  a  survey,  171;  a  steward- 
ship  program,    171,    172 

Cobb,  Nathaniel  Ripley,  his  cove- 
nant,   162 

Colgate,     William,     how     he     began 


giving,  17,  18;  his  grandson  fol- 
lows  in   his    footsteps,    17 

Colorado,  a  pocket  of  silver  opened 
in,    94 

Comfort,    a,    defined,    65 

Commands  of  JNew  Icstament  not 
less  binding  than  those  of  the 
Old,   97 

Conscience    Fund,    a,    156 

Convenience,    a,    defined,    65 

Converse,   John   H.,    26 

**  Corban,"   a   modern   instance,    180 

Dennis,  James  S.,  on  the  contribu- 
tion   box,    103 

Dodge,  Cleveland  H.,  remark  to 
Richard    C.    Morse,    120 

Dodge,  William  E.,  his  pleasure  in 
giving,     15 

Drummond,    Henry,    on   work,    9 

Enrolment  in  the  Fellowship  of 
Stewardship,    form   of,    175 

Family,  a  cooperative  concern,  145, 
169,    170 

Farmer,  the  Foolish,  81,  83;  sam- 
ple budget,  147,  148;  should  in- 
clude in  his  estimated  income 
what  he  takes  from  the  soil  for 
his    living,     152 

Farmers'   testimony,    148,   149 

Fellowship  of  Stewardship,  The, 
17s;    features   of,    175,    176 

Fiske,  Fidelia,  how  her  Sunday- 
school  scholar  saved  and  gave, 
88,    89 

Forms  of  Account:  Child's  Allow- 
ance Chart,  140;  Young  People's 
Expenditure,  142;  analysis  of  a 
sample  account,  144,  145;  per- 
gonal budget,  14s,  146;  farmer's 
budget,    147,     148 

Gambrell,  J.  B.,  "Who  Owns  the 
Wool?"    181 

Giving,  God's  antidote  for  selfish- 
ness, x;  a  check  upon  spending, 
56;  the  measure  of  God's  capac- 
ity of,  93;  method  of  raising 
men  rather  than  money,  94; 
what  it  is:  not  acquiring  merit, 
98;  a  trait  of  God,  99;  not  be- 
queathing, 100;  not  self-adver- 
tising, too;  not  exchanging,  loi; 
tested,  not  by  sequel  but  by  mo- 
tive, 104;  defined.  105;  'objects, 
105;  Scriptural  directions,  106; 
its    supreme    expression,    109 


191 


192 


INDEX 


Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  letter  to 
his   son,    154 

Gordon,  A.  J.,  story  of  William 
Colgate,    17 

Gore,    Bishop,    on    property,    37-39 

Goucher,   John  F.,  40 

Government  inculcating  steward- 
ship,   150 

Grocer's   tombstone,    inscription,    10 

Haidarabad,    prime    minister's    stew- 
ard,   4 
Havergal,   Frances   Ridley,   on  shop- 
ping,   62 
Hobhouse,    L.    F.,    on    property,    36 
Home  the  best  place  to  learn  stew- 
ardship,    167;     a    good    example. 
169,     170 
Hopkins,    Jared    and    Johns,    5 
Hypocrisy,    still    rife   in  the  church, 
97;   rebuked,    180,    181 

Income,  net,  defined,  152;  includes 
usufruct  as  well  as  money-wage 
and    profit,    152 

Income  tax,  typical  instances,  31, 
32 

Individual,  the  middle  partner,  x; 
his    part    in    property,    41 

Influencing    others   to    give,    165 

Inheriting  entails  additional  obliga- 
tion,   42 

Inslee,    Samuel,    14,     15 

"Iron    Maid,"    "the,"    10 

Jenks,  Jeremiah  W.,  on  training 
Jewish    youths,    78 

Jesus'  teaching,  as  to  property,  39; 
acquiring,  45,  46;  spending,  58, 
59;  saving,  80,  81;  giving,  97, 
98;  proportioning,  127;  account- 
ing. 137;  influencing  others,  168, 
169 

Kennedy,   John   Stewart,    16,    17  ^ 
Kirkpatrick,    E,    A.,    on    child   train- 
ing   through    spending,    54 

Lansdell,    W.    Henry,    124 

Law,    William,    his    pen-portrait    of 

"  Miranda,"    20,    21 
Lawyer's    account    with    God,     157- 

t6o 
Leaders  wanted  for  development  of 

stewardshipj    178,    179 
Life,    all   of   it   a   stewardship,    3 
Losing    may    result    from    excessive 

saving,    79;    from    unwise    invest- 
ing.   79,   80 
Luxury,     a,     distinguished     from     a 

necessity,    65,    66;    some    samples 

of,    68 


MacBride,    Robert    E.,    64,    68 

McLeod,  Harvey  S.,  26,  154 

Maiden  lady  starting  the  Madras 
Y.   M.   C.   A.    building,    19 

Mammon  may  be  converted  into 
a   means   of   grace,    67 

Merchant  who  used  the  Lord's 
money  for  his  own  business,  47, 
48 

Minister's,  salary  held  back  is  rob- 
bery, 84;  manse,  to  be  reckoned 
as    income,     152 

"  Miranda,"  a  typical  steward, 
portrayed  by  William  Law,  21, 
22 

Money,  defined,  7;  what  it  is:  a 
medium  of  exchange,  6;  a  meas- 
ure of  the  value  of  things,  7; 
also  of  men,  7,  8;  it  likewise 
helps  to  make  men,  8,  54;  it 
talks,  revealing  what  man  is,  11; 
it  represents  stored  personality, 
12;  it  determines  destiny,  10; 
its  magic  power,  8,  53;  only  a 
part  of  one's  stewardship,  13, 
119;  various  types  of,  6,  7;  one's 
first,    42 

Morse,   Richard  C.,    120 

Mortgage,    God  holds   the   first,    33 

Moses,    Margaret,    her    example,    20 

Motive:  differentiates  between  lux- 
ury and  necessity,  63 ;  between 
giving  and  paying  for  value  re- 
ceived, 101-104;  for  acquiring, 
46;  for  saving,  77-80;  for  giv- 
ing, 93;  for  accounting,  135;  for 
influencing     others,     165 

Motto  on  Royal  Exchange,  London, 
33,    34 

Mottoes  for  chapters:  stewardship, 
i;  acquiring,  29;  spending,  49; 
saving,  69;  giving,  91;  propor- 
tioning, 113;  accounting,  133;  in- 
fluencing   others,    163 

Moule,  Bishop,  on  Christ's  bond- 
servant,   98 

Necessity,  a,  distinguished  from  a 
convenience,  a  comfort,  and  a 
luxury,    65 

Net   income,   defined,    152 

Ownership,  distinguished  from  pos- 
session,   31;    originally    God's,    35 

Partner,     the     Chief,     his     part     in 

property,    39,    40 
Partners,    three,    contribute    to    the 

value   of   property,    35^ 
Partnership     not     inconsistent     with' 

stewardship,    4 
Paul's  teaching  as  to  spending,   58; 

his  complete  silence  as  to  tithing, 

I2S 


INDEX 


193 


Perkins,    George    W.,    on    the    obli- 
gations   of    wealth,    83,    86 
Personality     involved     in     property, 

43 

Possession  distinguished  from  own- 
"^rship,    3 1 

Poteat,  Dr.  E.  F.,  on  title  to  prop- 
erty, 34;  on  relative  investment 
of   partners,    41 

Poverty,  Jesus  puts  no  premium 
upon,    58,    59 

Principles  of:  stewardship,  23,  24; 
acquiring,  44,  45;  spending,  58; 
saving,  80;  giving,  93;  propor- 
tioning, 127-129;  accounting,  159, 
160;    influencing  others,    183 

Prize  Essay  on  Stewardship,  com- 
petition,    173 

Production,  Jesus  the  Master  of, 
45.   46 

Property,  its  value  contributed  by 
three  partners,  35;  Bishop  Gore, 
on  the  subject  of,  37-39;  respec- 
tive   contributions,    39-41 

Prophecy   of    Horace    Bushnell,    185 

Proportionate  giving,  distinguished 
from  systematic,  107;  instances 
of,    131,    132 

Railway  engineer  as  the  Lord's 
treasurer,    zj 

Reading,    supplemental,    189,    190 

Rich,  consideration  of  the  right  to 
be,    37,    85,    86 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  how  he  be- 
gan   giving,    27 

Royal  Exchange,  London,  motto  on, 

Ruler,    rich    young,    127 

Sabbath  not  coordinate  with  the 
tithe,    125 

"  Sacred  "  distinguished  from 
"  Secular,"     121 

Saving,  nations  learning  ways  of. 
71,  T2\  offset  by  waste,  73;  re- 
sults in  accumulation  'of  rnone}', 
75;  should  be  made  tributary  to 
extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom, 
75,  76;  should  begin  in  child- 
h'ood,  y(>\  benefits  of,  78;  ways 
of,  79;  objects  of,  80;  peril  of, 
82,    83;    instances    of,    183,    184 

Schauffler,  A.  F.,  on  the  nature  of 
money,     12,    13 

Schoolboy's    account-book,     165 

Scotch  lad  who  got  the  worth  of 
his  money,   (>2,   63 

Scriptures  on:  stewardship,  22,  23; 
acquiring,  45;  spending,  58,  50; 
saving,  80-82;  giving,  93,  97,  98, 
109;  proportioning,  115,  125-128; 
accounting,  137:  influencing 
Others,   168,   169,    182,    183 


Separated    portion,    the,    153,    175 

Silver  Rule,  enjoined  by  Paul,  126; 
derived  from  the  ancient  law, 
126 

Society,  its  part  in  property,  40,  41 

Spending,  its  effect  on  character, 
55;  regulated  by  saving  and  giv- 
ing,   56;    for  what  and  how,   61 

Stenographers  who  have  widened 
their  world,    186 

Stevenson,  J.  Ross,  his  message 
from    a    servant,    186 

Steward,  of  the  prime  minister  of 
Haidarabad,  India,  4;  the  Un- 
righteous,   22,    23 

Stewards,    typical,    14-20 

Stewardship,  what  it  includes,  3; 
how  consistent  with  partnership. 
4;  a  method  of  raising  men 
rather  than  money,  x,  5;  a  test 
of  character,  23;  The  Fellowship 
of,  175,  176;  the  home  the  best 
place  to  learn  it,   167 

Stewart,   E.   B.,   on  the  tithe,    124 

Swedish  servant-girl,  her  example, 
187 

Tagore,  Rabindranath,  story  ^F^a" 
beggar   and    a  king,    103 

Talks,   money,    11,    51 

Things,    Jesus'    attitude    toward,    59 

Time,  is  money,  3;  should  be 
budgeted,    51 

Tithe,  a  moot  question,  116,  117; 
practised  by  pagans,  122;  by 
patriachs,  123;  by  the  Hebrew 
nation,  123,  124;  conditio^as  un- 
der twentieth  century  democracy, 
different  from  those  of  the 
theocracy,  123,  124;  embodied 
not  as  is  the  Sabbath  in  Decalog, 
but  in  the  ceremonial  law,    125 

Unrighteous    Steward,     the,     22,    23 

Value  of  life.  Christian  versus  non- 
Christian    estimate,     1 1 


War,  its  effect  in  stimulating  stew- 
ardship,   ix,    71 

Webster,  Daniel,  his  greatest 
thought,    13s 

Wesley,  John,  his  famous  sermon, 
183,    184 

Wilson.  P.  Whitwell,  on  the  Fool- 
ish    Farmer,    83 

"Wool,   Who   Owns  the,"    181 

Youth,  the  time  to  begin  slaving, 
76-78;  and  to  train  in  steward- 
ship,   172 

Yuan,   Elder,  his  business  basis,  48 


LIST  OF 

MISSION  BOARDS  AND 

CORRESPONDENTS 


The  Missionary  Education  Movement  is  conducted  in  behalf  of  the 
Foreign  and  Home  Mission  Boards  and  Societies  of  the 'United  States  and 
Canada. 

Orders  for  literature  on  foreign  and  home  missions  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  the  secretaries  representing  those  organizations,  who  are  pre- 
pared to  furnish  special  helps  to  leaders  of  mission  study  classes  and  to 
other   missionary    wor-kers. 

If  the  address  of  the  secretary  of  the  Foreign  or  Home  Mission  Board 
or  Society  of  your  denomination  is  unknown,  orders  may  be  sent  to  the 
Missionary  Education  Movement.  All  persons  ordering  from  the  Mission- 
ary Education  Movement  are  requested  to  indicate  their  denominations 
when  ordering. 
Advent    Christian — American    Advent    Mission    Society,    Rev.  George  E. 

Tyler,  i6o  Warren  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
Associate   Reformed   Presbyterian — Young  People's   Christian   Union   and 

Sabbath  School  Work,  Rev.  J.  W.  Carson,  ISlewberry,  S.   C. 
Baptist   (North) — Department  of  Missionary  Education  of  the  Cooperating 

Organizations  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention,  23  East  26th  Street, 

New  York  City. 
Baptist  (South) — Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion,  Rev.  T.   B.   Ray,    1103  Main   Street,   Richmond,  Va.      (Correspon- 
dence concerning  both   foreign   and  home   missions.) 
Baptist    (Colored) — Foreign   Mission   Board   of  the   National  Baptist  Con- 
vention, Rev.  L.  G.  Jordan,  701   South  Nineteenth  Street,  Philadelphia, 

Pa. 
Christian— The  Mission  Board  of  the  Christian  Church:  Foreign  Missions, 

Rev.  M.  T.  Morrill;  Home  Missions,  Rev.  Omer  S.  Thomas,  C.  P.  A. 

Building,    Dayton,    Ohio. 
Christian  Reformed — Board  of  Heathen  Missions,  Rev.  Henry  Beets,  2050 

Francis  Avenue,   S.   E.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 
Church  of  the  Brethren — General  Mission   Board  of  the  Church  of  the 

Brethren,  Rev.  Galen  B.   Royer,  Elgin,  111.  .  . 

Congregational — American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 

Rev.   D.   Brewer  Eddy,   14  Beacon   Street,   Boston,  Mass. 
American-  Missionary  Association,  Rev.  C.  J.  Ryder,  287  Fourth  Avenue, 

New  York   City.  . 

Congregational  Education  Society,  Rev.  Miles  B.   Fisher,   14  Beacon  St., 

Boston^  Mass.  .  „„.„.         „     -r.       . 

The   Congregational   Home   Missionary   Society,    Rev.    William    S.    Beard, 

287   Fourth  Avenue,   New  York  City.  ^     •  t. 

Disciples  of  Christ — Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society,  Rev.   Stephen 

J.   Corey,    Box  884,    Cincinnati,   Ohio. 
The  American  Chrfstian  Missionary  Society,  Mr.  R.  M.  Hopkins,  Carew 

Building,   Cincinnati,   Ohio. 


Evangelical    Association — Missionary    Society    of    the    Evangelical    Asso« 

ciation,    Rev.    George   Johnson,    1903    Woodland  Avenue,    S.   E.,    Clevc 

land,   Ohio. 
Evangelical  Lutheran — Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General   Coun- 
cil of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  N.  A,,  Rev.   George  Drach, 

Trappe,    Pa. 
Board    of    Home    Missions    of    the    General    Council    of    the    Evangelical 

Lutheran    Church    in   North*  America,    805^807    Drexel    Building,    Phila- 
delphia,  Pa. 
Board    of    Foreign    Missions   of    the    General    Synod    of    the    Evangelical 

Lutheran   Church  in   the   U.    S.  A.,   Rev.  L.    B.   Wolff,   21   West   Sara- 

toga   Street,    Baltimore,    Md. 
Board    of    Home    Missions    and    Church    Extension    of    the    Evangelical 

Lutheran   Church,   Rev.   H.   H.   Weber,   York,   Pa. 
Board    of    Foreign    Missions    of    the    United    Synod    of    the    Evangelical 

Lutheran   Church  in  the   South,   Rev.   C.    L.   Brown,   Columbia,   S.   C. 
Friends — American  Friends  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Mr.  Ross  A.  Had- 

ley,   Richmond,   Ind. 
Evangelistic    and    Church    Extension    Board   of   the   Friends    Five   Years* 

Meeting,   Mr.   Harry  R.   Keates,    13 14  Lyon  Street,   Des  Moines,   Iowa. 
German    Evangelical — Foreign  Mission   Board,   German   Evangelical   Synod 

of  North  America,   Rev.   E.   Schmidt,   1377   Main  Street,   Buffalo,   N,   Y. 
Methodist   Episcopal — The   Department   of   Missionary  Education.     Repre- 
senting the   Board   of   Foreign   Missions,   the   Board  of   Home   Missions 

and  Church   Extension,   and  the   Board  of   Sunday   Schools,    150  Fifth 

Avenue,  New  York  City. 
Methodist     Episcopal     (South) — The     Educational     Department     of     the 

Board    of    Missions   of   the    Methodist    Episcopal    Churchy    South,    Rev. 

C.    G.    Hounshell,    810    Broadway,    Nashville,    Tenn.      (Correspondence 

concerning  both   foreign  and  home   missions.) 
Methodist    Protestant — Board     of     Foreign    Missions    of    the    Methodist 

Protestant    Church,    Rev.    Fred    C.    Klein,    316    North    Charles    Street, 

Baltimore,    Md. 
Board    of    Home    Missions    of    the    Methodist    Protestant    CThurch,    Rev. 

Charles  H.   Beck,   507   Pittsburgh  Life  Building,   Pittsburgh,   Pa, 
Moravian — The    Department    of    Missionary    Education    of    the    Moravian 

Church   in   America,    Northern   Province,    Rev.    F.    W.    Stengel,   Lititz, 

Pa. 
Presbyterian    (U.    S.   A.) — The   Board    of   Foreign    Missions   of   the   Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  U.   S.  A.,  Mr.   B.   Carter  Millikin,  Educational 
Secretary,    156   Fifth  Avenue,   New   York   City. 
Board   of   Home   Missions   of   the   Presbyterian   Church  in   the   U.    S.   A., 
Mr.  Ralph  A.  Felton,  Director  of  Educational  Work,  156  Fifth  Avenue, 
New   York   City. 
Prbsbyterian    (U.    S.) — Executive   Committee   of   Foreign   Missions   of  the 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.,  Mr.  John  I.  Armstrong,  210  Union 

Street,  Nashville,  Tenn.  ' 

General   Assembly's   Home   Missions   of  the   Presbyterian   Church   in  the 

U.    S.,    Rev.    S.    L.    Morris.    1522   Hurt   Building,   Atlanta,    Ga. 
Protestant   Episcopal — The   Domestic   and   Foreign.  Missionary   Society   ol 

the  Protestant  Episcopal   Church  in  the  U.   S.  A.,  Mr.  W.  C.   Sturgfis, 

281    Fourth   Avenue,    New   York    City. 
Reformed   Church    in    America — Board   of  Foreign   Missions,    Rev,   L.   J. 

Shafer;    Board   of    Home    Missions,    Rev.    W,    T.    Demarest;    Board    of 

Publication    and    Bible    School    Work,    Rev.    T.    F.    Bayles.      25    East 

Twenty-second  Street,  New  York  City. 
Reformed    Church    in    the    United    States — Mission    Study    Department, 

Representing  the  Boards  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  Mr,  John  H. 

Poorman,  304  Reformed  Church  Building,   Fifteenth  and  Race  Streets, 

Philadelphia,   Pa, 
United    Brethren    in    Christ — Foreign    Missionary    Society,    Rev.    S.    S. 

Hough,   Otterbein   Press   Building,   Dayton,   Ohio, 
Home    Missionary     Society,     Miss    Lyda     B,     Wiggim,     United    Brethren 

Building,   Dayton,   Ohio, 
Young   People's    Work,    Rev.    O.    T.    Deever,    Otterbein   Press   Building, 

Dayton,   Ohio. 


United  Evangelical — Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  United  / 
Evangelical  Church  and  Board  of  Church  Extension,  Rev.  B.  H.  Niebel,  ^ 
Penbrook,    Pa. 

United    Norwegian    Lutheran — Board    of    Foreign    Missions   United   Nor. 

wegian  Lutheran  Church  of  America,  Rev.  M.  Saterlie,  425-429  South 

Fourth   Street,   Minneapolis,    Minn. 

Board  of  Home  Missions,  United  Norwegian  Lutheran  Church  of  Amer- 

ica,  Rev.  Olaf  Guldseth,  425   South  Fourth   Street,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

United   Presbyterian — Mission    Study   Department    of   the    Board   of   For 

eign   Missions  of   the   United   Presbyterian    Church    of   North   America 

Miss  Anna  A.   Milligan,   200  North    Fifteenth   Street,   Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Board  of  Home  Missions   of  the  United   Presbyterian   Church   of   North 

America,    Rev.    R.    A,    Hutchison,    209   Ninth    Street,   Pittsburgh,    Pa. 

Universalist — Department   of    Missionary   Education    of   the    General    Sun- 
day  School   Association,    Rev.   A.   Gertrude   Earle,    Methuen,    Mass. 
Send    all    orders    for    literature    to    Universalist    Publishing    House,    359 
Boylston  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

CANADIAN  BOARDS 

Baptist — The  Canadian  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Board,  Rev.  J.  G.  Brown, 
223  Church  Street,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

Church  of  England — The  Missionary  Society  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  Canada,  Rev.  Canon  S.  Gould,  131  Confederation  Life  Building, 
Toronto,    Ontario. 

Congregational — Canada  Congregational  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  Miss 
Effie    Jamieson,    23    Woodlawn    Avenue,    East,    Toronto,    Ontario. 

Methodist — Young  People's  Forward  Movement  Department  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  Rev.  F.  C.  Stephen- 
son,   299    Queen    Street,    West,    Toronto,    Ontario, 

Presbyterian — Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada,  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, Rev.  A.  E.  Armstrong,  439  Confederation  Life  Building,  To- 
ronto, Ontario. 

Revised  to   1917 


,1  seminary  SpeerUbrary 


WW™«Q^092  9349 


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